Redeeming Hell
by GhostOfOnyx
Summary: Hell's Claimed. A small dark guild under the authority of Grimoire Heart slowly gains power as it recruited two power houses. However the infamous Salamander known for his rampages takes precedence as his public notoriety soars. Behind the mask is just a little boy looking for his father. Can the infamous Salamander save himself from Darkness? Or will the strings of fate interfere?
1. Chapter 1

**MWAHAHAHAH! Hey Guys! Ghost here with a new sinister tale for you! I'm here to bring you my twist on a classic Fairy Tail tale. Anyway onwards! I don't own anything that stoopid genius Hiro Mashima thought up!**

* * *

It was a beautiful day in the City of Era, not a cloud in the sky. The sun beamed down brightly on the city. Couples walked in the parks, street performers animatedly did their routines, and...

"Damn it!" An elderly man yelled in frustration as he slammed the reports down on the table. The wrinkles displayed on his face growing evermore creased as he furrowed his brows in anger, his magic power flaring slightly under his emotional tirade. "He's just one damn _man_-_we _are_ Magic Council! _I don't understand how we haven't managed to gain one single piece of useful information about him!"

"G-Gran Doma-sama! Please calm down!" One of the other councilors sitting around the table with him pleaded.

Said gray haired man sighed as he ran a hand through his long cascading gray hair. His hand passing under the seemingly cliche pointed wizard's hat he wore on top of his head. "I'm sorry, it's just that I fear that other dark wizards will lose their fear in us and decide to act more freely if nothing is done about him soon. His notoriety is probably kingdom wide by now."

"Well if you ask me I think people like him make this job fun. It'd be a shame if no one were there to cause trouble." Another male voiced chimed in from across the table. The spiky blue haired man sat with his head in his hand, a bored face plastered on his tattoo clad face.

"Siegrain you ignorant brat! Watch your mouth!" Another Councilor, this time an elderly woman, cried in outrage.

"Now, now Siegrain-sama has a good point. It's no fun playing the hero if there's no villain to stand against him." A pale skinned, purple haired youthful women chimed in with an almost mockingly sultry tone. She fiddled with the glass orb in her hands as she smirked innocently.

"Not you too Ultear!" Another elderly man voiced. "Seriously how did these brats get on the Council in the first place." He mumbled under his breath. Unaware that the blue haired man picked up what he had said.

"That's simple. It's because we have a lot of magic power, geezer." Siegrain countered as he smirked devilishly.

"Siegrain-You!" Org, the second seat of the Council, shouted. He was obviously irritated by the blatant disrespect shown by the insolent younger member.

"ENOUGH!" Gran Doma roared as he forcefully slammed the butt end of his staff onto the ground, cracks spreading through the smooth stonework that made up the floor, effectively silencing the room. However the entertained smirk never fell from Siegrain's face. "The vast world of magic is filled with many problems, it will always be. It's a dynamic thing. However this man takes prominence! We eliminate him, his guild is dealt a major blow, as well effectively asserting our power, hopefully reducing the likelyhood that someone else will rise to this notoriety again." Gran Doma ranted, righteousness oozing out of his words.

"Double the amount of Reconnaisance squads as well as spies to follow up leads on his whereabouts. Secondly, send out requests at once to all the major guilds, a 10,000,000 J S-Class bounty should suffice plenty incentive for now. Send the 5th and 6th Enforcement Squad Rune Knights out on more patrols as well as up surveillance." Gran Doma continued. "We must eliminate the one they call... _Salamander_!"

* * *

A week and a half later in the coastal port town of Hargeon, a train pulls into the station with it's breaks screening loudly as it slowed to a halt. The compartment doors open and a pink haired man throws himself out immediately. Falling face first against the stonework of the station's plaza. "Thank God!" He bellowed as he flopped onto his stomach, his face was discolored green, as if he were sick, although the color was fading rapidly from his visage. His deep green eyes slowly retrieving their luster.

A young blonde haired train attendant, a quite attractive one at that the man would argue, saw the man collapse and hurriedly rushed to his side. "S-sir are you okay?" She asked with concern laced in her voice.

"Do I look okay to you?!" He snapped back testily as he groaned and stood up on shaking knees. He tried taking a step, but his gag reflex kicked in as his head continued to spin. The vertigo completely throwing off whatever little balance he had at the moment. The man had to lean heavily against the woman, an arm wrapped around her neck and over her shoulder. She looked all too flustered but went along with it. "Fuck! I swear I'm never taking one of those stupid steel death traps ever again!" He moaned in agony. The woman supporting him gasped and he received hard glares from some of the passengers exiting out into the station, specifically those with children, but he paid them no heed as he tried to quell the rebellion his stomach was having against him.

"Damn, why am I even here again?" He ground out to himself as he was finally able to support himself, he turned towards the attendant. "Thanks for the help." He gave her a childishly toothy grin, that anyone unknowing of the man wouldve found unbearably cute.

The blonde haired woman blushed and turned away, "Really its not problem, although you were really warm. Are you sure you're not sick? Plus that clothing isn't exactly ideal for this time of year you know." She said as she looked over his body. He wore a long sleeved crimson open vested hoodie which showed off his toned midsection with white knee length pants, sandals and top the odd appearance off a white scaly scarf wrapped tight around his neck.

She notice with curiosity that his ears twitched and a wild wicked grin spread across his face, "Oh I'll be just _fine_...it's 'Mr. Salamander' you have to be worried for right about now."

She gasped. _'He's going after Salamander?!'_

She couldn't help but crack a smile as he took two steps forward and proceeded to fall flat on his face yet again, "Damn it!" He yelled, as she moved to help him to his feet again.

* * *

In another part of the city at the same time, a seemingly frustrated blonde stormed down the street. "Tch. Stupid old pervert...only taking off 1000 jewels." She paused for a moment and thought about it.

"Is my sex appeal really only worth 1000 jewels?!" She shouted angrily, kicking over a cafe's street sign.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The blonde heard squealed off to her left. She saw a massive crowd of women who all seemed to fawning over someone.

"Hmmmm? What's going on?" She thought. As if to answer here thoughts more women ran by.

"It's Salamander-sama!" One of them squealed.

"Oh my Gosh! I want his autograph!"

"Salamander?!" She gasped. The notorious dark mage for whatever reason was incredibly popular, it defied logic, but he was still an imposing figure in the world of magic...and I guess that can get you a fanclub somehow no matter who you are. "I wonder if he'll let us see his magic! I hear you can't get it in stores anywhere." She said to herself, after all it wasn't everyday you saw someone this notably powerful...or _dangerous. _She gulped at the last thought. 'I hope this doesn't get to out of hand!...But I wonder if he's attractive?' The blonde thought blushing slightly as she walked over to the crowd of women.

She wove her way through the crowd of fawning women. However she found herself stopping a clutching her chest. Her heart beating thunderously as she stared at the man before her. "W-why is my heart beating so fast?!" She thought, her face flushing furiously, as she stared at the glorious man in front of her. Inside the ring of women stood a tall attractive man. His deep blue hair frayed wildly as it was combed over the left side of his head and his deep black eyes flickered lively. The ornate crimson tattoo of what can only be described as a pair of stylized tongs over the right side of his right eye only served to bolster his appearance. He wore a pair of red pinstripe dress pants with black dress shoes. His collared button up shirt was lined red up the center and around the collar. His purple cape, held together by a flame pendant, housed what she could only describe as as white suns with squiggly rays beaming out from their centers inside the capes golden borders. "Ha Ha, seems I've been had. I can't get anywhere like this." The man mused in a deep suave voice. She almost couldn't stop herself from squealing along with the other women. 'S-seriously what's going on with me?' She asked herself, however her conviction was waning. They met eyes, black peering into brown. She felt her heart clench painfully as she gripped tighter onto her shirt. 'Hhyyyyaaaaaaa! Is it just because he's a famous Mage?! Because I think I'm..." The blonde found herself thinking as she began to creep closer to the man.

"NATSU-SAN! NATSU-SAN!" She heard a small high pitched voice yell ecstatically. A blonde haired boy, no older than 11 or 12 years old burst through the crowd of women. A small maroon cat wearing a blue vest was perched on his shoulder. "Natsu-san! I finally..." He shouted a bright grin on his face, bearing his distinctly sharp canine teeth. His wide blue eyes drooped into narrowed slits and his face dropped it's glee as he stared sinisterly at the man in front of him. It almost sent a cold shiver up the older girl's spine.

Sensing the boy's distress the cat asked in concern, "Sting-kun what's wrong?"

'W-what? Did that cat just talk?!' The blonde girl thought incredulously. 'Plus why did my heart stop beating so hard, and I don't seem to feel as giddy as before...Uhhhh! don't tell me Salamander-" However her thoughts were cut off.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked, threat laced unmistakably in his voice.

The man blanched before regaining his composure, "W-why haven't you heard of me? I'm Salamander!"

"No you're not." The boy growled out...no he literally growled.

"What are you talking about brat?!"

"Of course he's Salamander-sama, he's a great Mage!"

"Just go home!"

The women around him shouted heatedly, they look like they were about to jump the poor boy.

"Now, now ladies I'm sure he's just confusing me with some poser. No need to get so angry." He said cooly getting the women back to there swooning state. The blonde girl crinkling her nose in disgust, she recognized the apalling magic he was using. She gripped the keys strapped onto her belt tightly. She was about to step in when-

"HOW DARE YOU!" The young blonde roared, he was seething in rage as he charged the blue haired man. The maroon cat hopping off his shoulder in the midst of this. The girl's eyes widened in shock as his fist was consumed in a bright white sphere of light. "**Hakuryuu no Ken(White Dragon's Fist)**!"

'What kind of magic is that? Punching with...light?' She wondered in awe, she simply stayed and watched as the other girls ran away at the outbreak of the fight.

Sting punched the older man square in the shin, light streaking behind his fist. The man's confident smirk fell as his leg swept out from under him, sending him faulting to his face. "OUCH! You little brat that really freakin' hurt!" Salamander exclaimed as he rolled around on the ground, clutching his now bleeding nose with one hand and rubbing his shin with the other as he clutched it to his chest. However the furious blonde gave him no respite, "**Hakuryuu no..**" He started, the blonde taking a deep breath of air. "**HOKOU(White Dragon's Roar)**!" The older blonde watched in stunned silence as a thin swirling white laser beam erupted from the boy's mouth and struck the wide eyed blue haired man straight in the chest. Sending the man rolling down the street and subsequently sending a huge cloud of dust into the air in it's wake. He stood there panting in front of the blonde girl.

"Haaaa...Haaaaa...Haaaa...Damn I put to much into that last one." He muttered to himself. "But that's what you get for calling Natsu-san a poser!" Sting said in triumph as he raised a fist in the air.

"Sting-kun, what was that about." The maroon cat asked as it walked up to the boy.

"Oh, Lector, you haven't met him yet, but Natsu-san is a really good friend of mine. He's super strong too! This guy over here doesn't deserve the name matchstick let alone Salamander."

'This little kid knows Salamader?! What the hell is going on?!' She asked herself in shocked stupor, too much was going on too quickly.

"Oi, Oi brat don't get so ahead of yourself." Someone wheezed out through the smoke. Sting's eyes widened, in shock or horror she couldn't tell. As the smoke cleared they could see the dirtied version of 'Salamander', but he looked fine none the less. "You're in for it now kid. **Prominence Wh- **What the hell are you doing?" He asked as the blonde girl stepped out in front of Sting and spread her arms.

"Look if the kid didn't hit you, I was going to you disgusting creep." She said sternly in defiance as she narrowed her eyes.

"Fine have it your way, you're both going to die here today then." He stated as his voice leveled flat and his face became eerily calm. 'Its just a girl and a brat I can't possibly lose.' He told himself.

"Oi woman! What are you doing?! Get out of the way. I have to kick his ass! This ain't your fight!" Sting yelled at the older woman.

"I have a name you know?! It's Lucy!" She said angrily as she took her eyes off the fake Salamander. However that was a mistake. "**Prominence Whip**!" He heard 'Salamander' shout. She turned back with wide eyes to see large tendrils of purple flame fly out of his hand towards them. 'Oh no I don't have time to call one of my spirits out.' She thought in worry, she turned around and hugged the small boy and his cat to her chest in an attempt to shield them from the attack. She felt blinding pain as the tendrils made contact, slamming into her back, exploding harshly, and despite her efforts she heard the young boy cry out in pain as the tendrils weaved their way around her grip and hit the boy on his back.

"Gahhhhh!"

"Eeerrhhhaaaa!"

"Kyaaaa!"

The three voices cried out in agony. Lucy fell to the ground completely consumed by her pain. She felt her skin was burned badly along her back and arms, and her muscles screamed in protest at the slightest movements. She could see sting lying next to her, his eyes showed pain, his clothes were a little singed, and he was sprouting a few blisters but he didn't look to bad. However, he was still young. It didn't look like he was in any condition to fight.

"Haha...Hahahaha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH- Is this it?! Is this really it?!. After all of that big talk before and you're down just like that?" She heard him say maniacally, his footsteps growing closer as they reverberated off of the plaza's stonework. "Unfortunately it's time for you to die now."

'No-No I don't want to die, I still have to join Fairy Tail-and get a boyfriend and get married and-' Lucy thought, however she already found herself succumbing to unconsciousness.

"Good bye! **Prominence Typhoon**!" She felt the blistering heat of the flames as soon as they were created in her hands, she waited, she waited for her end to inevitably come however as the seconds dragged on she wasn't burning. She heard an odd gulping sound. Sting looked over her body as he cradled an unconscious Lector towards the blue haired man. His face lit up once again, "Natsu-san!" He shouted. 'S-Salamander...?' Was the lat thing she thought, before slipping into the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Guah! Echhhhk, Bleh! Are you sure you're a fire mage? 'Cause your fire tastes like shit!" Natsu said,wiping his mouth, as he stood between Sting and the unconscious indecently dressed blonde...well not like he was going to complain about that..., and the blue haired prick who has been using his name.

"Natsu-san!" The young blonde shouted out the newcomer's name in glee.

"Yo! Sting! You've gotten big haven't you?" He answered chuckling lightly as he turned to face the young Dragon Slayer. "Give me two..." He paused as he put his hand to his chin in thought, "No...one minute and we can talk some more. 'Kay?" Sting nodded his head and Natsu turned back to the utterly shocked fake.

"W-what the h-hell are y-y-you." The man stuttered as he peered in unhidden shock at the man who'd eaten his flames as if they were some sort of treat...a disgusting one at that.

"Me?" He said gesturing to himself, "I'm just your everyday mage." The pink haired man said with a look of complete consternation on his face.

"HUAH?! Bullshit! Normal people can't eat fire!" The blue haired man yelled out of exasperation and none to little in fear.

He sighed, before looking at him with a maniacal grin. "Look man that's not my fault now is it?! Let me get to the point though cause we're short on time...stupid Rune Knights are getting more persistent." He said, grumbling the last part under his breath. "You've committed three sins here today Bluey!"

Said man got in a defensive stance in an attempt to be ready for whatever the new brat would try. 'It's Bora the Prominence, damn it!' He thought sullenly to himself. 'Why does no one know me?!'

"First! You tried to hurt my friend! I don't exactly have many of those so I can't really forgive you. Second!...You used the name Salamander, that is a crime punishable by death." He said to him as he pointed an accusatory finger at him.

"I _am_ Salamander!" 'Plus that's only two! Is this guy some kind of idiot?!' He cried in defense.

In the blink of an eye the pink haired man was in front of him, his face dead serious with an anger burning in his eyes that paralyzed Bora in fear. He could practically see a large red dragon looming over him ready to crush him like an ant.

"Then who the hell would that make me?" Natsu questioned in malice, his voice just above a whisper. So quiet the Blue haired man hardly registered it before the flame covered fist made contact with his head head. "**Karyuu no Tekken(Fire Dragon's Iron Fist)**!"

The punch and resulting explosion flinging Bora down the street like a rag doll and into the middle of the shipyards, grunting in pain as he tumbled down the unevenly paved road. Some of his bones cracking as friction ground him to a bitter halt. He gazed weakly at the approaching pink haired boy. That punch had hurt like _hell. _Bora's vision swam and he felt nautious he couldn't believe it was possible for someone to actually punch that hard."P-Please d-don't kill me." He mumbled out weakly. His answer was returned by a searing kick to the stomach. The flames boiling the skin as he was yet again somersaulted through the air. '_T-This guy's crazy!' _He thought as he landed roughly on the ground.

"P-please, I beg you. I-I'm a slaver I can give you anything you want! Money! Girls! Yeah, yeah!" He tried as he groveled on the ground, inching away from the powerful man before him. His dark eyes shadowed by his bangs radiating a powerful red.

"Why the hell should I care about that?" He asked in all seriousness. " I don't know if you were listening earlier but I'm _Salamander. _ I don't need it."

Bora hardly had time to register as the flaming kick slammed upwards into his jaw easily breaking the hinged bone. He flew several feet into the air, rocketing further into the shipyards only 50 feet or so from the roaring waves of the ocean. Unable to do anything to defend himself in his current state, he quivered in fear as the psychotic man approached him. Natsu stopped as he stood over the man still glaring down harshly. However to Bora's surprise his glare fell, leveling off into impassiveness. "Okay I guess you're lucky. I just don't feel like killing you. Why though? You hurt Sting and that blondie? ...Well I don't necessarily like killing people but after our plans are complete everyone 'il be happy in the end...Well thats according to Ardet atleast."

'W-what the hell is he going on about?!' Bora thought incredulously as he teetered at the edge of unconciousness.

"Well I can't let you get away unpunished I guess." He commented as he put a finger to his chin. Evidently confused about the next course of action. Bora saw the boy ponder momentarily, however snapping his fingers together obviously in his eureka. A smile etching his face. Hey just to let you know, if you reveal any important info about me I'll break _into_ prison to kill you, 'Kay?"

'Huh?' Was the last thing Bora was able to think.

"**Karyuu no KOOOOEENNN(Fire Dragon's Brilliant Blaze)!**"

Bora's world went black as raging flames consumed the entire port around him in a humongous explosion, the ground shaking below him as the world receded from his view.

* * *

Sting marveled as he watched the one sided slaughter from its point of origin. An unconscious Lector cradled to his chest. He still couldn't believe the amount of power his idol held as he watched the flames rage in port, reveling in the feeling of the ground trembling underfoot. The flame's luminescent glow shining through even in the light of day was incredible, they appeared almost ethereal. 'I'll definitely beat him one day!' He thought in excitement, his body practically trembling in anticipation. He saw his pink haired companion emerge from the flames, racing back towards him, a sheepish look etched onto his features.

"Whats wrong Natsu-san?" Sting called to him.

"J-just used a little to much power that's all. T-that'll probably attract a little to much attention so we gotta go. I can already smell a squad from the military approaching the port." He said as he slowed to a stop in front of the younger boy.

Stings face lit up in choice of his pronoun, "I-I can come with you this time?!" He shouted excitedly.

"Sure why not? I was on my way to a dangerous mission last time so you couldn't come with me, but I was here to take care of that bastard this time around." Natsu said grinning, as he gestured to where he took his poser.

"Alright let's go!" The blonde said as he jumped into the air, raising a fist as he did so. Landing, Sting immediately turned and started jogging in the general direction to leave the city. Natsu was about to follow after his enthusiastic friend but stopped as he recalled an earlier event. He gazed back towards his right where the older blonde girl lay. He didn't quite feel right leaving her there like that, she did protect Sting after all...but he didn't have much choice in the matter, he really couldn't stay here much longer after making such a scene like that. Ardet would be super pissed if anyone actually figured out his identity before whatever plans they had could be put into motion.

"Natsu-San come on, they'll catch on to you!" Sting said as he called to the elder Dragon Slayer from down the street.

"Im coming, one sec!" Natsu acted quickly as he removed his red jacket folding it so that it could act as a pillow. He rolled the girl over so she was in a more comfortable position and positioned the jacket underneath her head. He stood up and took his first step, but another idea came into mind.

"They can't possibly miss this, could they?" Natsu smirked fiendishly as he lit an arm on fire.

"Nahhhhh."

He quickly finished the menial task and raced down the street, quickly catching up to the smaller boys strides.

"Natsu-san what was that about?" The blonde asked curiously.

"Just making sure that blonde was okay, after all she did try to protect you. It was my fault for not getting there earlier anyways." Natsu replied meekly.

"Yeah, Nee-san was a little wierd but she still seemed like a nice person." Sting said as he nimbly jumped around an older women who let out a surprised 'eep' at the sudden action.

"Hmph. What was her name anyways?" The older Dragon Slayer questioned.

"I think she said it was...ummm...Luigi?" Sting replied sheepishly. Natsu suddenly stopping in his tracks as he stared dumbly at the younger boy. His mouth agape, showing off his fang like canines. "What?" Sting questioned as he also slowed to a patter.

"You're right that is a weird name for a girl." He stated and yet again was off like a rocket. This time leaving Sting in the dust as he entered the train station's plaza.

"Natsu-san wait up!" Sting cried out as he tried to catch up.

"Hahah catch me if you can, Sting!" Natsu turned to tease childishly, not noticing he was about to run into to someone who rushed off the arriving train. He saw a blur of red before he collided into something really _reallllllyyy_ hard. Both people were sent tumbling to the ground. Natsu regained his senses as he looked up and locked eyes with a beautiful red headed women. Her hair was a deeper red than even his fire, a brilliant crimson. She wore thick steel Heart Kruez armor, a variant that Natsu might even have a tiny bit of trouble busting through, a thin blue skirt that stopped right above her knees, and a pair of brown boots. They just sat there for several moments, dark brown eyes peering into onyx.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean...I was just trying to get to that fire quickly. If it helps console you, you may hit me." She said breaking the silence, bowing respectively on her knees as Natsu got onto his feet again.

"What are you talking about? It was my fault too, I wasn't looking where I was going." Natsu said pointedl. as he offered a hand to help her up. Which she gratefully accepted, he noticed he stood about a half a head taller than the woman.

Upon noticing the arrival of Sting, Natsu gave him a curt nod and said his farewell. "Well sorry again, me and my friend have to leave though, good luck Red!"

"My name's Erza, and to you as well." The woman said with a small smile.

Natsu paused briefly as he reevaluated the woman in front of him. Natsu's eye quickly quirked in recognition of the woman...after all it was someone who he has been looking forward to fighting for a long time now. _'Titania!'_ He thought in wonder. He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline course through his bloodstream, however now was not the time or place for this fight to take place. No he was sure they'd meet again, they _had_ to. Especially if _he_ was involved.

"Natsu." He said with a grin. "Until we meet again...Titania." With a final wave the Dragon Slaying duo raced off again. Leaving behind an utterly confused red head in their wake. However, she snapped out of her stupor in order to tend to the burning city. There was no doubt in her mind who these flames belonged to. _'Salamander!' _Her gauntleted hand winding tightly into a compact fist that shook from the sheer amount of strength. With her objective in mind, she raced towards the raging inferno that was now threatening to consume Hargeon.

* * *

Lucy's body felt heavy heavy. She wasn't sure how long she's been sleeping, or even why she fell asleep all she could remember was...

"Salamander!" She gasped suddenly, sitting up quickly on to regret it moments later as her body groaned in protest. She found herself lying in a completely white walled room, was she in the hospital? She glanced at the window to see it was now after dusk, darkness consuming the outside world. However she could see some sort of illumination outside.

_'The beds certainly make it seem the case.' _She thought grudgingly as she eased herself back down into a comfortable position.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, I was beginning to worry."

"Kyaaaaaaa!" Lucy squealed in surprise, however that squeal quickly turned from that of shock into fandom as she saw the woman sitting at her beside. "Y-you're p- You're-!"

The red headed woman besides her sighed, she was plenty use to this and it really was a drag to be a famous wizard. "Yes I'm Erza Scarlet."

"O-oh my God! I love you're guild so much, it's always been my dream to join it! Do you think-"

"We can handle that later, we have more concerning issues right now. Pease tell me all that you know about the Salamander that's been in this town. You're the only eyewitness I could find, and you needed help for those burns so I brought you here." She said sternly, a placid look on her face but her eyes told of her real impatience.

"Okay! Okay! Well uhh... First there was this one weird guy who was calling himself Salamander. He was using a the name to attract crowds of women, and then he was ensnaring them with a love charm..." She tapped a finger to her chin trying to recall the events, however her mind was still a little hazy.

"Could you describe this man? It's very important theres never actually been a description of him before."

"Oh yeah! But apparently that guy wasn't even Salamander!" Lucy suddenly remember, causing the Knight's eyes to go wide. "I was ensnared in the love charm and I was pulled out when some young blonde kid named..uhhhhh Sting, I think that's what the talking cat called him, came out of no where and started calling him a poser." Lucy finished, however she was trying desperately trying to remember the name which the boy kept calling out.

"Wait did the man using the charms happen to have blue hair and have a tattoo over his eye?" Erza questioned, slightly confused by the whole situation.

"Yeah! That's him!" Lucy shouted as the picture of the creep ran clear through her mind.

"That man was Bora the Prominent, once a member of the guild Titan Nose but was thrown out a couple years ago after breaking the law repeatedly." Erza said, her gaze downcast in consternation. The frustration starting to pile up little by little on the misleadings she was consistently getting on Salamander. "He was found in the middle of the shipyard. Although they stabilized his medical condition, he's apparently slipped into a coma. Therefore unable to answer any questions."

"Huh? Oh yeah that's right...that blonde kid could use some crazy magic and starting fighting with Bora...However the kid was still pretty young so he couldn't take him out, and he was about to get attacked so I stepped in...but I got distracted and he attacked me at that moment. I just shielded the boy, and everything after that I-I don't remember." Lucy lamented, tears stinging her eyes as the memory replayed in her head. However she wouldn't let herself cry in front of your idols. "Maybe I shouldn't go to Fairy Tail...after all I couldn't even protect one kid properly."

"Nonsense. Uhh..." Erza said no knowing the girls name, and waited for her to comply.

"Lucy." The blonde said simply, turning her face away slightly.

"I'm sure you're a very competent wizard. But if you have an attitude like that you'll never be able to get into Fairy Tail. You need to embrace your power, and push forward no matter how hard it is to climb even higher towards the summit of magic, that is the Fairy Tail way!" Erza said with a surprising amount of intensity, but the heartfelt gesture really made Lucy happy. She found herself smiling at the older woman beside her. "Besides I failed today as well, I came here looking for Salamander but I've found nothing and still half of Hargeon is in flames at the moment."

"Huh the towns on fire?!" Lucy questioned in wide eyed shock.

"Yes I'm assuming it was Bora, he was apparently some sort of fire mage."

"Yeah...he was..." Lucy said as she remember the scalding purple flames.

"Either way I found this with you is this yours?" The red head questioned as a flash of gold filled the room and a red jacket popped into her hand.

"No I don't own a jacket like that." Lucy said as she tilted her head to the side. However as she studied the jacket, an unnaturally marred spot caught her attention. "Let me see that for a second." Complying, Erza handed it to her. She unfolded it and stared at the burns in question.

_'IOU1' -N was crudely burned into the red fabric. _

_Munch Munch Munch Sllurrrrpppp "Hah! Natsu-san!"_

"Wait there was another guy!" Lucy exclaimed as the sudden memory came back to her. This caught Erza's full attention.

"Yeah apparently the blonde kid knew the real Salamander, I can't believe I couldn't remember that he'd actually said his name before!" Lucy cried out in exasperation.

"Really do you remember what he said?!" The knight asked frantically.

"Yeah his name was Natsu!"

However the reaction she got from the red-head was not one of joy or excitement. No the woman paled immediately and the next word out of the woman's mouth was not knew Lucy ever expected her to say.

_"Natsu." The pink haired man said with a grin. The small blonde boy carrying an brown cat inched closer to him nervously. _

"FUCK!"

* * *

Natus walked down the dimly lit halls of the castle's corridors. The only ambient light being the torches placed ever so often along the length of the hall. A banner of the guilds crest could be seen adorning the walls every so often. A flame completed wrapped in chains bound by a padlock.

"Natsu-san why does this place have to be so creepy?" Sting asked as he hovered close to the elder Dragon Slayer.

" I don't know actually. Apparently it's a dark guild thing I guess. Welcome to Hell's Claimed. Don't blame me though, Ardet insisted on it when we moved the guild here." Natsu drawled, obviously not affected by the atmosphere the two wandered in at the moment.

"Oh...okay..." Sting answered as confidently as possible, however he was still a little scared.

The two walked along the path for several more minutes in silence until they stood in front of two large double oak doors. Natsu proceeded to kick the massive doors open with little effort to reveal a large hall. Illuminated by a single fire place at the far end. A lone figure stood in front of it casting a long shadow towards the duo.

"Yo Ardet I'm back. Got a newbie too. I'm bored though so I want my next mission."

"Very well." The elderly male voice boomed throughout the room. " I've received a request from Eisenwald. They'll pay you to help protect them while they carry out their plans with Lullaby. " His visage still doused by the light of the flames behind him.

"Will I get to fight?"

"Most likely..."

"Alright! I'm all fired up then!"

* * *

_There it is chapter 1 of Redeeming Hell is complete! Please Read, Review, and follow I'm really looking forward to some feedback here :D. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Chapter II here fresh out the oven. I have a few things to say, but I'll save it for the end because I really owe it to you guys! **

* * *

Natsu grunted in annoyance as he listened painstakingly to the resounding cheering that shook the foundation of Oshibana's train station platform. The spine curling screams of the fleeing civilians and workers could be heard in the background as Eisenwald took over the station...well spine curling to any normal person in the least.

"What the hell are they gettin' so hype about? They got some stupid creepy flute? Even if they did get close enough to play it, it's not like the old geezers would be stupid enough to let them play it." He mused apathetically from his solitary spot in the corner, lazing back on top of a series of crates and barrels.

"Good job Kage-chan!"

"Now our plan is complete! Next town over is Clover!"

Two faceless guild members from Eisenwald exclaimed, whom Natsu couldn't even give enough shits about to bother turning his head to gaze in their direction. He decided it was more interesting to muse in his own thoughts than to their deluded egotistical rants. He came here to fight some strong people, not to babysit a bunch of weaklings. Natsu was contemplating a vain attempt at a nap until something came along to entertain him, however he couldn't even manage that.

"Oi! Pinky, who the fuck are you?" An obviously uninformed member of Eisenwald sneered as he strutted over, taking full strides over to the prone Dragon Slayer. Who in turn simply peered at him with one eyed open in disinterest. Although it amused him to see the paled, horrified faces of his comrades who looked much to scared for their own safety to intervene.

"I'm the hired help." He stated bluntly, causing the man's face hovering above him to contort in anger.

"Like we'd hire anyone to help us! Erigor-sama is strong enough to take on anyone that we may come across. Why should I believe that?! Besides you don't look that strong, it seems like a waste of money on a pink-Ack!" The mans tirade was silenced as Natsu's hand shot out and snaked tightly around his throat, standing up Natsu gazed the quaking man directly in the eye.

"Sayin' shit about my power from a piece of trash like you means absolutely nothing to me, but if you call my hair pink one more time I'll burn you to a living crisp. Got it?" He stated coldly. The fire burning wildly in his eyes and the simple seriousness of his atmosphere held no ambiguity in his intent. The man went wide eyed in fear, his hands clawing uselessly at the vice grip cutting off his airway.

_'Oh shit! I can't move his hand!'_

"Oi, Salamander what the hell do you think you're doing to one of my men." The authoritative voice beamed down from above. Natsu felt the small drifts of wind ruffle his clothing signifying the powerful presence overhead, much to his jargon. He seriously couldn't win with the sort of stuff, first this prick insults him and now he's the bad guy here?

_"Well I'm not exactly the best guy either,"_ he thought chuckling to himself, with a smirk he responded, "Classic misunderstanding that's all." He released the writhing man from his iron death grip. The faceless guild member clutching at his neck as he stumbled off back into the safety of the masses.

"Yeah, yeah it better be." The newcomer growled from his levitating position in the air, a large scythe hung over his swirl-like tattoo clad shoulders. The tattoo continued symmetrically down his chest, stopping over top of his sternum. His white hair frayed wildly as it licked back, a single thick bang of hair overshadowed the left side of his face, and he had a small arrow like tattoo under each eye. "Either way, I came over here to tell you that I sensed a squad from the military enter the station just now, you looked bored so I came to see if you wanted to deal with them."

"How many?" He questioned, only slightly interested. The military could be fun, but only in really large numbers.

"I don't know maybe a platoon or so, but the real problem will be those Fairy Flies. Apparently Kageyama mouthed off a lot about Lullaby and one of them overheard. So don't be so surprised when they show up." He grunted as he folded his legs into a sitting position, the man not bothering to hide his displeasure at the current situation. This newly received information definitely sparked Natsu's interest.

"Alright, I'll handle the military, but in exchange when Fairy Tail gets here you have to let me fight the one with red hair." He smirked up at the irritated man. It'd already been a week or so, or so he thought-he wasn't exactly the best with managing time, since they'd met in Hargeon and he was really starting to regret not challenging her then and there, risks be damned.

"Oh really?" The white haired man said in mock interest, his tone betraying his words. "Sure I don't mind, but...what makes you so sure the person you're talking about is even going to show up?" The white haired man scoffed.

"Because...I'd expect no less from my hunter, Elinor." The pink haired man said pointedly, gazing idly with his arms folded across his chest.

"My name's Erigor, Salamander. _Shinigami_ Erigor" The man ground out, glaring sternly at the younger male, "Know your place before you make me want to kill you." With that said he floated off to only the gods know where, and Natsu certainly did not give care enough at the moment what the windy bastard was off to do next.

"Alright! Off to have me some funnnnn~." He sung out as he marched to the main corridor for the station, letting his keen nose guide him to the smell of steel and sweat. He walked calmly, swinging his legs in wide bounds with his arms in the air and hands conjoined behind his head out of the platform and towards towards the front of the station. He stopped abruptly as the echo of metal clinking against each other emanated further from the other end of a corridor that led to the station's lobby area, the muffled resounding of boots signifying his prey. He examined the corridor quickly with narrowed eyes as he weighed his options for attack. Relatively narrow walls made of stone? Those conditions alone easily threw all the options out the window as he prepped for his assault. He smirked his chest puffed out, his head angled back as he angled himself closer to the ground.

"**Karyuu no (Fire Dragon's)...**" He continued to let the pressure levels build up as he awaited the proper moment to unleash the fiery blaze. Waiting ever so impatiently for the sounds and smells reach the edge of the staircase at the hall's end. "Now!"

"**HOUKOU (ROAR)!**" A massive spiraling cone of flame burst out of the pink haired boy's mouth, compressed and pressed forward by the stone walls that made up the corridor. The raging flames scorching the walls a sinister pitch black as they raced towards the unsuspecting military unit. He heard their alarm but by then it was much too late as the large room was completely filled with raging flames. Natsu could hear their pained screams echoing through the open space as he let the stream of fire die out, taking a second to cringe his nose to the smell of the scorched hair, flesh, and metal. "Damn," he said under his breath, "That was a lot less fun than I thought it was gonna be. I kinda expected at least some of them to evade in time...Now how am I suppose to kill my boredom until Titania gets here?!" He muttered frustratedly to himself as he made to return to his place of leisure. However the sound of tires screeching from outside reverberated loudly inside his sensitive ears. The pink haired man flinched slightly as a face splitting grin adorned his face.

"Or maybe not!"

* * *

Erza Scarlet panted tiredly as she leapt off the drivers seat of the magic four wheeler. She stumbled ungracefully as her legs started giving out underneath her, but she willed herself to regain balance. Pressing herself forward towards the civilian encircled station in Oshibana. For whatever reason smoke could be seen rising from somewhere from within the building.

"Erza! You need to relax! If you keep going like this you're going to get yourself killed!" The dark haired man behind her exclaimed, his face contorted in worry.

"We don't have time for THAT, Gray! We finally caught up to Eisenwald, and we have no clue what they're planning. Whatever it is, it seems they've already started." She snapped back testily between pants, causing Gray to flinch in recoil, as she started a slow jog.

"Geez, you should've at least let me or Lucy help with the S.E plug if you were going to be this way." He muttered to himself, just above a whisper.

The blonde simply stayed quiet, eyeing her new found friends in concern, as they closed the remaining distance between themselves and the station.

"Move out of the way! We're mages here to assist! Please let us through!" Erza barked as she began making her way quickly through the crowd of civilians, rather roughly in some cases. Her two guild mates right behind her. The trio could hear the station's employees attempts at keeping the civilians at peace.

"Ladies and gentlemen please stay back, it's dangerous here!"

"A train was derailed inside by accident, so no one is allowed inside!"

"Until we can confirm the safety inside, the station will be closed to the public!" The male voice called out over the megaphone.

"Is this really the best excuse they could come up with?!" Gray exclaimed just above the murmurs of the worried crowd as they broke through to the front of the pack.

Erza swiftly walked up to the man with the microphone and questioned, "What is the situation inside?"

The authority figure gave the scarlet haired woman a puzzled look, "Wh-Who even are you?!" He questioned in shock. "UGH!"

Erza's response was a quick and brutal head butt which rendered the man unconscious, and in turn almost being upon the second worker before the first even hit the ground. The other two simply looking on in mute horror as she rendered worker after worker unconscious asking her question.

"S-She really only likes people who answer immediately, doesn't she?" Lucy muttered to Gray as a small shiver ran up her spine and a cold sweat broke out over her body.

"You know her better now." He replied wide eyed and shaky as he attempted to avoid looking at the horrifying scene.

"A-a military platoon went in, but they've yet to return." The timid voice responded, shocking the other two as it garnered their attention.

"How about the dark guild Eisenwald?" Erza asked curtly, nodding in assertion to the worker's statement.

"They haven't come out either," the small man said as he scratched the back of his neck and avoided eye contact with the monstrously strong woman in front of him. "My best guess is that there is probably some sort of battle still going on inside."

Erza turned back towards Lucy and Gray. "You heard the man, let's go back up that platoon. A regular unit won't hold out to long against mages."

"Aye!" The two responded and they turned to rush into the station. They quickly made their way through the station, however the sight and smell that was soon upon them was a very unpleasant one. The unconscious, badly burned, and smoldering bodies of the entire military platoon laid sprayed out at the bottom of the staircase before the hallway that lead through to the station's platform. The scorched stone walls oozing a thick steam as some of the stone work fused into a gelatinous mass at the walls' base.

"O-Oh geez..." Lucy muttered as she surveyed the scene.

"At least it appears that they're all alive." Gray commented as he attempted to move one of the soldiers, only to pull his hand away in a hiss of pain as it came in contact with the heated metal. "For now at least..."

However a certain circuit connected in Lucy's brain as she stared at the display laid out before her. "Hey you don't think this could've been-." However one look at the infuriated and frustrated face of the scarlet haired knight answered the unfinished question.

"Yes." Erza growled, "But I don't understand what he would be doing here! Why is he working with Eisenwald?!"

"Who are you two talking about?" Gray asked confusedly, missing whatever reference the two girls were trying to make.

"Me of course~!" The new voice chimed in from above at the top of the stairs. The knight's eyes instantly widening in recognition. "Oh look blondie is here too! It's like a big reunion!" The pink haired man said as he pointed childishly with wide eyes towards the blonde mage. The extra attention Lucy received from the man caused the blonde haired mage to squirm awkwardly.

"SALAMANDER!" Erza roared in fury, "I won't forgive you for making such a fool out of me before!"

The pink haired boy stared at her puzzled for several seconds in silence, "How the hell'd you figure it out? I don't remember tellin' you." Scratching his chin, he wracked his brain for a solution. "Ah...Shit that puts me in a tight spot," the man sighed, muttering something about orders quietly to himself.

"Eh? This guy is the infamous Salamander? Like I'd believe something something like that after meeting this pin-" Gray started to say in haughty arrogance. However he was cut off as a hand slapped over his smirking mouth, startling the dark haired wizard.

"Something just tells me that he probably doesn't like it when people call his hair pink." Lucy whispered quietly into her comrade's ear. Staring questionably at the powerful mage that stood before the trio.

"Damn right I don't Luigi! What the fuck were you about to say you damn exhibitionist bastard?! I dare you to finish!" Natsu roared as his face twisted into a snarl, slamming a fist into his open palm.

_"How did he manage to hear that?! I'm positive I said that at the lowest volume I could!...And Luigi?"_ The blonde thought in a mix of disbelief and consternation.

"It's a bad habit alright!" Gray yelled back, as he noticed with ample frustration that his white dress shirt was once again missing from his body. He gave a quick glance for it in the vicinity, but his focus remained on the Salamander.

"HAHAHAH how the hell is that a habit?! You're probably stupider than I am!" The man bellowed in laughter, as he pointed mockingly toward the shirtless mage.

"Dumbass it's 'more stupid'!" Gray yelled back, further frustrated by the hypocritical statement of his adversary.

"Enough! Stop acting so casually! Why are you working with Eisenwald?!" The red head demanded furiously. Her hands bunching into rage induced fists. She could feel the cold metal of he gauntlets dig sharply into her skin, the metal bending ever so slightly through the pressure of her grip.

"Same reason why you guys do jobs. I need money too," Natsu said with a shrug, leaning precariously against the wall, "it's not like I've done anything bad yet on this mission."

"Look around us you idiot!" Gray exclaimed as he gestured to the incapacitated members of the royal army. "Does this not count or something?!"

"Hey, I was just playing along. Plus Elinor said I could fight Titania if I took care of them." The man replied casually, distractedly picking something out between his teeth. Apparently pleased with removing the object, Salamander stood up straight and paced the length of the stairs.

"You bastard! You think these men's lives are a game?!" The Fairy Tail mage once again giving a furious retort.

"Gray, stop it, even if you were to fight him, you can't beat him. You're not ready for an S-Class mission quite yet." Erza scolded as her face grew cold and serious, not noticing the bitter look that briefly washed over her companion's shocked face. "Besides this is an opponent I must face myself, there is a reason I will never-_ever_ forgive him." She said with a startling amount of intensity. The woman's hands glowing a luminous gold before two ornate twin broadswords appeared seemingly out of thin air as she kept her gaze locked onto the olive orbs of Salamander. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise as his hands in return were consumed in an infernal orange flame, and a face splitting grin encroached his visage. His aura completely changed going from light-hearted almost to one of the highest degrees of killing intent Erza had ever felt poised at her. Her gauntleted hand shook for a second before she brutally repressed the sensation that threatened to erode her. _"What the is with that fire magic? I've never seen someone be able to physically be consumed by fire without receiving some sort of burn! Calm down Erza you need to win! For everyone!"_

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this Titania." He said as the fire continued to encroach along his arms until it was up to his shoulders, and at that point in time his entire body burst into flames. The boy's frame and visage beginning to blur in the residual heat of the hellish fire. "Now I can finally truly test myself, against a Wizard Saint Class mage to boot! I get to see if I'm finally good enough to..." He softly trailed off as magic power reached a steady peak. "Come...Titania." Salamander growled out in a husky voice, his fanged grin still plastered onto his blurred face. The mage's raging flames shifting with his motion, slightly trailing behind as he began to walk slowly down the stairs.

_"What does he mean he's waited so long? Does he remember me from back the. somehow?...Either way I have no choice but to try to take him down here. I believe in Gray. He is probably strong enough to defeat Erigor by now, and from what I've heard about Gray and Lucy's last mission she is quite capable. They should be able to stop Eisenwald. "_ Erza convinced herself as she steeled her mindset for the fight to come. She could tell she couldn't afford the slightest of hesitation brought about by those worries.

"W-woah Erza you can't be serious!" Gray shouted as he moved to stop her. "I don't know all the details but do you really think you can win in this condition? What about Erigor and Lullaby?!"

"Gray-" Hower the red headed knight was cut off by the pink haired mage.

"What is that stripper talking about Titania? What fuckin' "condition" is he talking about?" He questioned seriously with a flat face, cutting off the knight as his flames flickered out as he spoke. The temperature of the room declining quickly in absence of the inferno.

"That is of no concern to you, criminal." She said sternly towards Salamander, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Of course it's of fucking concern to me! I have absolutely no interest in you if you're not at full strength. So tell me what condition you're in that would make it so difficult to fight a 'criminal' like me." He spat vehemently, his lips twisting up slightly in a snarl.

"Like I said that is of no concern to you!" She spat back, barely able to keep the subtle rage that simmered below her surface in check.

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME-"

**"Ice Make: Hammer!"**

The air cooled instantly and a gigantic hammer made of ice formed articulately above the stone stairwell, starting it's descent before it's formation even completed. It slammed down viciously where the fire mage stood. The hammer completely destroying the the stone as it imbedded itself. There wasn't a noise that followed. Not by the trio of Fairy Tail mages, and none coming from the previously livid dark mage. The silence continued for what seemed like minutes, and no one moved even a millimeter.

"D-Did you get him?" Lucy muttered first breaking the high tension haze. Erza letting out her baited breath and Gray giving an audible gasp as he wiped his sweat glazed brow.

**"Karyuu no Tekken! (Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!)"**

A flare of orange fired out from behind the hammer as a massive plume of steam filled their view. The hammer exploded violently outwards, sending a storm dagger-like shards of ice at the Fairy Tail mages. Erza snapped her arms up reflexively in order to protect her face and exposed vitals from the barrage with her gauntlets. Letting out quick gasps of pain through closed eyes and a clenched mouth as they tore away at her skirt and exposed legs. The icy high velocity projectiles tearing through the thin fabric of her navy blue skirt with ease as they lacerated the surface of her skin. Marring her legs with shallow cuts.

Erza let her body relax, as she opened her brown eyes to the white haze that filled her vision.

"Shit I can hardly see an inch in front of me!" The knight cursed mentally.

"Lucy! Gray! Are you two all right?!" She called out to her comrades.

"Yeah we're good." She heard Lucy call out. "At least I think. Are you alright Gray?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He wheezed out with some effort. "A large chunk just knocked the wind out of me."

Erza inched closer to the pair as she raised her swords to a guard position. "Be ready and stay close to each other, we have know idea where he is going to attack from next."

Erza sat in wait. The cold steel of her armor pressed up against the side of her comrades. Surveying diligently through the thinning steam for any signs of the dark mage. _"This is absolutely crazy! Not only did he completely obliterate Gray's ice, but he sublimed it to this extent...but, where is he? Salamander has had plenty of chances to attack, the best of which being right after he blew the hammer apart..."_

Another infuriating thought crossed her mind. Her hands flashed gold yet again, but instead of a sword this time she'd traded them in for a giant paper fan. With a mighty heave, she swung the fan clearing a good majority of the steam. The visibility of the room barely even hampered to reveal...

"Arrrrgghhhh!" Erza relented in utter frustration, the giant fan poofing out of existence in a flare of golden particles. "We need to go after him! Lucy go get some officers from outside and get these soldiers some care and meet back up with us! Gray you're with me! Let's go!"

"Aye!" Lucy responded confidently, a resolute face etched onto her visage before turning and dashing towards the exit.

"H-he actually ran? That guy really doesn't make sense." Gray muttered in a wide eyed. daze, still slightly shocked that his ice was blown away as easily as it was. It almost felt like he was facing a second Erza for a second there.

"Gray, come on!" Erza snapped from up ahead. The raven haired man jumped with a start before he realized he was standing all alone in the midst of the downed soldiers.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, "I'm coming!" He yelled back and raced off up the stairs after the red haired knight, catching up but barely keeping up with her rapid pace as she tore her way towards the station's platform. They ran down the long stretch of burnt hall before making a sharp right, and entered the platform hall. To their surprise they saw the entire Eisenwald guild. To their even greater surprise they were all glaring with vicious smirks in their face. And the treatest shock of all being that they were all glaring at the all to familiar deranged pink haired mage standing in the middle of the open platform. Shinigami Erigor perched precariously above his fellow guild members on a traincar.

Erza rushed forward in the blink of an eye, almost instantly closing the gap. "SALLLLAAMMMANNNDDERR!" She roared tackling the man to the ground. They skid several meters in a flurry of tangled body parts and sparking armor across the stone flooring. The duo to rest about 10 meters from the congregated dark guild. Erza panted tiredly as she flipped over and straddled the unamused, but unresponsive dark mage pinning him to the ground with most of her remaining strength. "Gray do it now!"

Gray jumped into action, his hands shooting down to the ground. A faint blue mist clouding up around the appendages. **"Ice Make: Geyser!"**

At the sound of the incantation, Erza nimbly hopped off to the side as a spring of ice burst through the ground. Completely incasing the dark mage in ice. He was laying in a quasi-supine position, unamused as only his head and left hand poked through the solid expanse of ice.

"What the hell was that for?" Salamander said with a flat face, before perking up as he tried to move. "Ohhhhhh~. Stripper you did a better job with your ice this time! It's much more solid."

Gray gave him a light glare as he came over and stood next to the knight, "Of course it would be, I'm not an idiot. I put nearly double the concentration of magic into it. Can't have you simply blowing it apart this time."

"Well that would be a problem for me, I have to-"

Erza couldn't hold back her anger anymore and threw a gauntlet covered fist directly into the soft cartilage of his nose. A spurt of crimson blood flew out his nose upon impact as his head jarred backwards. "SHUT UP!" she roared, panting heavily. "Just shut up."

The Salamander just looked mutely at the ceiling, his eyes wide and mouth open. He blinked once. Twice. A third time. "Ooooooouuuuuccchhhhhhhhhhhh." The pink haired man groaned as he leaned his head forward to stare at the two. Blinking away a tear that had formed in the corner of his eye.

"Hahahahah Salamander I never would've guessed you were into this kinda stuff." Erigor chided in over the silence. "Well doesn't matter anyway, you and your two little fly friends here are going to be dead soon shortly anyway."

"Huh?" Salamander questioned dumbly, "Are you sayin' you have what it takes to kill me?"

"Of course." The Ace of Eisenwald said with a sinister smirk. "Besides if I don't take care of someone who was about to betray me, then I might lose some credibility here. Besides, if I kill the famous Salamander, the whole country might know and fear the name Shinigami Erigor! Hahahah!" His maniacal cackles were followed by an earth rattling cheer from the lackies of the Eisenwald guild.

_"Betray?_" Erza thought confusedly as she studied the scene before her.

"Hey, cut me some slack. Orders are orders here. I probably coulda kicked your ass and left by now if Red hadn't so rudely interrupted me. That woulda been the most tame way to end you suicidal little plans would it not?"

Erza somehow resisted her urge to punch the infuriating man again and focus her attention solely on Erigor. "What do you intend to do? Depending on your answer, I may have to punish you for it." To emphasize the gravity of her words she summoned forth some of her magic power. The ends of her hair blowing wildly in its wake.

"We just want to full around a little." He taunted. "We have no jobs, so we're bored." The entirety of Eisenwald laughed uproariously at the blatant mockery. Erigor ascended into the air. "Don't you get it yet? What do they have at all train stations?" The man jeered once again in mild amusement.

"Station?" A several second hiatus filled the void until he elaborated furhter.

"Huh still don't get it do yah?" With that said, the remaining Fairy Tail duo and the Salamander watched as Shinigami Erigor lithely maneuvered through the air. Coming to rest next to a large pole with a intercom speaker at its pinnacle. He gave it a light tap, the metal sound reverberating throughout the platform. "Time's up." He said with animosity, a sinister smirk etched onto his tattoo clad face.

Erza's eyes went wide as the gut wrenching chill of realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "YOU'RE PLANNING TO BROADCAST LULLABY?!"

"What?!" Gray exclaimed in shock, flinching back slightly as realization hit him as well.

"Fwahahahahahah!" Erigor laughed with vigor. "There are hundreds, no probably a thousand or so people crowded around this station right now. If we broadcast it loud enough maybe even the whole town will be able to hear the sweet melody of death."

"Indiscriminate mass murder?!" Erza exclaimed yet again as her anger started to build up once more.

"We are simply cleaning up those fools who live their lives enjoying their rights, without even paying the slightest attention to the fact that there are those who have had theirs revoked." Erigor proclaimed prophetically towards the sky, his whole body leaning backwards. "Living a life being oblivious to the unfairness of this world is a sin. Thus the Shinigami has come to punish them! A punishment rightfully called _death!_"

"T-that's just disgusting." Gray commented, the anger and disgust evident in his voice.

"Hmmm~." Salamander hummed, a face of high concentration thought apparent on his face. "Something doesn't quite add up. What does killing a bunch of random people have to do with-" However he was cut off by Erigor.

"Sadly it's time for you to die now." With a wave of his hands four magic circles appeared around them in all direction while ferocious winds assimilated around his body. Each of the main seals having two orbitals with four more smaller sets of seals in each. The four seals circling slowly around the trio of mages. "Get torn to shreds flies!"

"When did he-?!" Gray exclaimed as he swung his head from seal to seal.

The Fairy Tail mages moved into defensive postures, not noticing the wide eyed look of recognition wash over the Salamder's face.

"Shit!" He screamed. Fire igniting around his arms under the ice. Erza watched as every vein and muscle bulged under the strain as he tried to force his way out of his constraint "Why the hell is there four of them?!"

_"I don't specifically know what he's talking about, but he's right. Whatever spell this is, just by the magic present I can tell it's a dangerous one! But how, Erigor is only suppose to be an A Class mage?.." Erza thought to herself. "None the less that doesn't matter now. I need to focus on how to protect us. I can probably block whatever it is with my Adamantine Armor, but then there's Gray... What to do what to do?!" Her thoughts raced through her head at a mile a minute._

_Clink. Crack. _

With a rush of heat rolling off the crumbling mass of ice Salamander rushed her and Gray, placing a his right hand on the side of her armor and hand on his back.

_"Damn it! I let my guard down!"_ She was just about to retaliate when for whatever reason she caught a glimpse of his face, and it stopped her dead._ "I-is he worried?"_ That was the last thing Erza could think before the whole place went to hell.

**"Karyuu no Akugeki (Fire Dragon's Grip Strike)!"**

Erza felt herself blown to the side with tremendous force, the portion of her Heart Kreuz armor subjected to the attack shattering and scattering to the ground in a trail behind her projectile path. The debris ranging in shapes from large chunks of metal to tiny metallic shards the size of paperclips. She could only look back over her shoulder at the man in shock as she cleared the orbit of the magic seals.

Everything from this point on was moving in slow motion. As to make sure that everything in the next turn of events would remained permanently ingrained into her memory. She could feel the slow tingle signifying the onslaught of pain brought about by the singed flesh of her side. She saw...

_"Why are you smiling at me like that ?" _

**"Grand Emera Baram!"**

There was a brief pause before the purple seals flashed, disappeared, and activated. Four massive torrents of wind erupted from where the seals once existed. The tore through the ground, completely eviscerating the stone flooring. All converging on where they had just been standing moments ago. She watched in disbelief as her last fleeting visage of the Salamander was lost in spin of flame as the torrents collided. The contracted, and expanded in a mass of oscillating winds before compressing further inwards. The mass of winds extending into a tornado-like column state, blasting through the roof of the platform.

Everything sped up again when she landed awkwardly. She released a shout of pain as a jagged piece of morphed armor stabbed into her burnt side. Slotting in just below her ribcage. The burning pain causing her to squirm on the ground. **"K-kanso(Re-quip)!"** She breathed out in a hoarse whisper. Reveling in the feeling of relief as her armor evaporated into a mist of golden particles, and leaving her in a sleeveless white blouse, now stained red along its length with her blood. She looked back up cradling her wound in time to see the massive tornado destabilize and dissipate. First the first couple of seconds there was nothing besides the raining debris. Then she saw it. The incredibly mangled and lacerated body as it fell through the air. Glinting in the sunlight that now filtered through the the open roof. Her mind then registered who exactly it was.

She gasped in horror and realization, the body hit the ground with a thud unmoving. She got to her feet and staggered over towards the man in a haze. Taking a quick look over to where Gray lay, finding herself content with the fact he seem to be unconscious with only a minor burn on his back. _"Why? I don't get it? Is he dead? Is this actually what I wanted to happen to him?"_

All kinds of memories flashed briefly through her mind as she stood over the unmoving man,completely oblivious to the world around her. His body was almost completely covered in gashes and cuts, blood staining parts of his pink hair a deeper red than her own. In several places pieces of her shattered armor stuck menacingly out from his muscular frame. The only thing that could even remotely begin to be assimilated as rational thought through her conflict was: _"Why?"_

"-They're pretty banged up so I'll leave you guys to swat the flies. The next time you see me, our objective will have been realized!" The words of Erigor bringing her back into the ambient world. She looked up in time to see him fly out one of the windows.

She looked lazily with dead eyes at the amassed members of Eisenwald to see them smiling viscously, some lustfully. She took one shaky foot forward before she felt something grip her ankle. She looked down and saw Salamander somehow conscious, looking at her through half lidded eyes. "Real T-t-t-target," He stumbled, coughing up a bit of blood.

"Gui-ld Master's Meet-" He slumped back down, slipping into unconsciousness before even finishing his sentence. Erza simply stared at him in silence.

"I understand." She said no louder than a whisper, ignoring the annoying cat-calls and taunts of the Eisenwald fodder, dashing forwards. She hacked, slashed and spun with incredible speed, grace, and agility. Indiscriminately cutting down member after member. Switching expertly between the differently types of blades. She noticed a dark figure in the corner of her eyes, parrying just in time to slash through a snake of shadow. However she now found herself bound by show like strings around her wrists and ankles.

"It's all your fault, you know?!" A man hissed as he materialized in the ground only inches from her face. His dark eyes holding a smoldering hatred. His ears had blood covered bandages over theme. "It's all your fault Erigor-sama did this to me!" He shouted in her face.

With mild effort she brought her right fist across her body and stuck the man in the face. "Shut up. I don't care."

"Of course you don't! What does someone like you from a regular guild even understand about what it's like to be in a dark mage?! Huh? You all just sit up there high and mighty, while we just get shit for everything!" He spat hunched over one of his knees. She responded by kicking him in the side.

"I told you I don't care. Not because you're from a dark guild. No, because first you threaten innocent people, and although I will never be able to forgive him; you almost killed a man in front of my eyes, and then he tells me that you planned alllllll along to kill the man who_ raised_ me as his own _daughter._ Right now I couldn't care less about your petty, pathetic whining!" She said coldly the man quaking in fear at the monster before him. With a swift punch the man lay unconscious on the floor. She finally looked around herself openly for the first time. The scattered unconscious bodies of the Eisenwald guild members lay at her feet. If there were anymore they must've fled somewhere.

"Erza!" The red haired knight's face softened and she turned to face the familiar voice, seeing Lucy running up with what she could only assume to be one of her spirits, a pink haired women in a maid outfit, sporting a bound chain on each one of her wrists and ankles. The blonde looked around at the carnage of the room. Her eyes lingering on the downed form of Salamander. "W-what the hell happened here."

"I'll explain on the way-we have to get to Clover as fast as possible."

* * *

**Hey guys, Ghost here! It's good to be back! There are several reasons I took so long to get this chapter out. Some being personal reasons that took up a lot of time, the main reason for writing however was simply because I didn't like where I was going with the story. Some of it felt a little cliche in my story plan, simply to similar to other stories, or too guidelined by Hiro's original storyline. This was a story I just wanted to try to get as creative as possible with because this type of story has a lot of potential especially as it applies to Natsu as a character. So I really just want to try to do my best for you guys. I hope you all enjoyed! Please review for me, I love hearing feedback from you guys be it good or bad! Stay golden mein fruends and I'll catch you all next chapter! Also don't worry, I'm going to try to expand upon this story with the other characters in the story as well!**

**~Ghost**


	3. Chapter 3

Erza stared blankly at the man who lay across the seat from her. Her thought process was completely dammed and she found herself in a haze. The only thing that she could discern in reality was the weight of the knife on her lap. It would be so easy, _oh so easy_ to drive the knife straight through his chest. Watch in bittersweet relief as his existence simply vanished. His flame extinguished from this world. _Forever_. She knew she would be doing the world a favor by taking this man's life here and now while she could.

The reports from the magic council held this man responsible for the deaths of over 260 people in various villages. No discernable reason either. None of the villages had a single thing in common. No valuable resources, no particular ethnicity, no companies or guilds to speak of, no notable crime records...they were just _average_ villages. People living out normal lives, segregated from the rest of the world except for the trade and travelers that would make their way through on a daily basis. It disgusted her to no end that the monster in front of her could simply take another life without some sort of clear cut reason. Some sort of drive or motive.

...It was hard to imagine this bastard actually doing anything worse but, unsuprisingly he seemed to surpass her wildest imaginations. She knew the gritty truth. She had done her reasearch. _He didn't kill the kids._ Despite the 6 villages he razed to the ground, he had made 34 orphans._ He had made kids like her._ In a way it seemed like a twisted sense of humanity. However she knew the pain that those kids experienced. She knew the pain of watching as her whole world burned around her. The ebbing away of all that you had known and replaced with a whole new reality. A living hell that festers the feelings of revenge and hatred. The hopelessness and despair that shakes you down to your very soul. That is not something a child, _no anyone_ should ever have to experience. It was not humane at all. She couldn't help but wonder though when she was first looking into the mission information that with the surplus of witnesses that there couldn't have been a single piece of information regarding his appeareance. _He'd use a high level transformation magic to alter his appeareance each time._ At least thats the conclusion the magic council came up with. It was undeniable that it was him though, after all the same high level fire magic had been used. That's right, she wouldn't be killing a man, she'd be removing a faceless beast from this world. Like the other monsters she is commonly requested to hunt and kill. He'd messed up just this once, and she'd make sure that he'd pay for it. Afterall it was complete luck that she stumbled upon his error. Almost like it was fated to happen. She was quite certain of that at least, especially from his reaction at Oshibana that was the case anyway. She wasn't going to allow this man to walk free again in any case that's for sure.

She watched as he grunted and shifted awkwardly in his unconscious state. As if he was uncomfortable. A sheen of cold sweat adorned the spots that she hadn't bandaged, glistening in the light that filtered through the cab windows of the magic four-wheeler. She had to admit his wounds were atracious. The winds had made dozens of lacerations on each of his limbs, not to mention the places he was _impailed _by armor shrapnel. Twice in the right shoulder, once just below the left side of his collar bone, a fragment stuck halfway through the side of his abdomen, and one directly buried into the quad of his thigh. It was a miracle that the combination of the two didn't strike any vitals. His skin was pale and clammy underneath crimson stained bandages, his breathing irregular and strained. He most likely had some broken ribs. A trickling gurggle signifying blood in the lungs.

Hazy memories started to flash in her mind as she stared at him, most of them slipping by just out of the reach of her conciousness, but still nabbed some to get a glimpse. _Memories that she really didn't want to see._

_Fire raged all around her._

_She could still vividly hear the shouts and screams that echoed through the darkenss. _

_People crying._

_People's pleas for help as they bled out before her._

_People **dying**._

_"Get all the children and get out quickly!"_

The weight on her lap felt like it grew 10 fold.

However, this only brought her back to the source of her haze.

Why had they saved him? Why couldn't she kill him? She still hated him, no in fact, she despised him. Despite what she had said to the Eisenwald guild she could've left him there to bleed out on the floor...but she didn't. Afterall she wouldn't have killed him so she wouldn't have broken one of the unspoken rules of Fairy Tail mages. "_A Fairy Tail Mage may not kill."_

She honestly couldn't answer that.

She was stumped.

...She assumed it was because she had such a clear picture of who this man was, only for it to blow up in her face in less than two minutes...Plus afterall he did, it would've left a bad taste in her mouth just to leave him there like that. Not acting in that situation is just as bad as killing them yourself.

What she _knew_, and what she _experienced_ where two completely different things...

She still remembered the look in those eyes. The _intensity_. At first glance you could only see darkness, a hallow pitch blackness and the tinge of madness that'd you'd expect from the eyes of the notorious Salamander. _But- _In that very instant, she could see so much more. A flood of emotion. Worry, fear, some sort of deep emotional nostalgia she couldn't discern, but most importantly she saw _light_. A hope so strong that it radiated forth like a star.

Almost like the eyes of a child.

Gods! What was she saying, who she was saying it about! It was all just so _confusing_!

"-Erza!" Reality snapped back into motion around her. Erza looked over to the source of her name to see Gray poking his head into the open window from the roof of their vehicle. Who was now clad in his shirt after Lucy had luckily recovered it while moving the soldiers from the army. "Snap out of it! I understand, but we can deal with him later! We gotta focus on savin' Gramps!" He said over the roar of the wind.

She simply nodded her head silently to Gray, making a motion for the knife in her lap to disappear only to look down to see it was already gone.

_"When did...?" _Erza quickly glanced first to the unconcious dark mage, checking to make sure he didn't nab the knife in her moment of distraction, but that wouldn't have made much sense because she was certain she would've caught him in the act even if she was distracted.

"Alright, because Lucy says we should be getting there any minute now. Just wanted to give you a heads up."

"Uh-y-yeah okay." She said absentmindedly as she gave the floor and seat a quick scan. _"Did I...?"_

"Are you sure you're okay Erza?" She looked back over to her teammate to see him studying her curiously. A cut across his forhead from the landing he had after Salamander had blown them across the room. She locked eyes with his. "I know this is probably all really stressful for you. If...If only I had put more magic into my ice Erigor might not have gotten away."

"Yes, I'm sorry for making you worry. I'm fine now. Don't fret over it too much though, there's not much any of us could've done in that situation. It's in the past, we just need to live with it and move forwards. Like you said, we need to save Master." She said with a smile, watching as the tension eased from his face and he departed from the window with a quiet "alright". However, any way she replayed that scene in her head, she couldn't find a better alternative than what had actually happened. If she had switched to a different armor, she could've protected herself yes, but she ran the risk of tearing Gray to shreds much in the same way Salamander had been impailed by pieces of her fractured armor, same thing that applied to Gray's ice. In fact as much as would like to believe in Gray's ability as a wizard, it would've been difficult for him to stop a spell of that magnitude. If it hadn't been for Salamander, most likely all three of them would've wound up in that sort of state. Yet another thing that infuria-

She shook her head quickly, let out a deep sigh, and decided to push all thoughts of the pink haired dark mage to the back of her mind for the time being as the Ice Make Wizard had suggested, choosing to focus on the town now silhoutted in the evening sun. Dusk was approaching ever so quickly as they raced down the railway.

After leaving the Oshibana Station the three of them had agreed upon the fact that the railway would've been the fastest, safest, and most direct route to Clover Town. As they wouldn't have had to deal with other traffic that may hinder their way.

Her expression finally softened as she peered at the vixen blonde who inhabited the driver's seat. She looked tired, a thick sweat forming over her brow and down her neck in the summer heat, but she didn't dare let their speed falter.

_"Compared to the girl I met in Hargeon, she seems much more confident now...I'm glad, she really wants to prove herself and thats become good motivation for her as a wizard."_

She knew how freaked out Lucy had been when Mira had explained dark guilds to her, and she could only hope that this could turn out to be a postive experience for her in the end.

The car hitched wildly as its tires ran over the tracks, and onto the ground just outside of Clover, not even too far from the Hall the Guild Masters were using for their meeting. They raced over the uneven ground, the torque of the wheels tearing up the earth in its wake.

Lucy slowed the four wheeler down to a smooth stop inside a small clearing just off the rail line. Trees lined the slow sloping hill next to them, a thin layer of underbrush at its base. They could see the roof and lights of the Hall peeking over the canopy.

Erza took one last glance at the half-dead man lying on the seat. Watching through scarlet banged eyes at the uneven rise and fall in his chest. She popped the door open and stepped out of the car, Gray hopping down nimbly next to her.

However, the panting of their third teammate didn't fall on deaf ears. She tried to step off of the drivers seat only to lose her balance, stumbling until Gray moved in concern to catch her, an arm slung around her waist.

"D-don't worry about me guys I-I'll catch up in a few minutes I just need to catch my breath. Master takes priority here."

"Nonsense Lucy-"

"Go!" Lucy demanded cutting Erza off. She could see Gray stiffen slightly at the action, with every right to given his past experiences, but the circumstances were different and Lucy's chocalate brown orbs held such certainty that Erza couldn't help but comply with. "Besides," the buxom summoner said with a small contrained smirk, "Someone has to watch sleeping beauty for the time being. Can't have him slipping off can we?"

Gray couldn't smile and helped her down into a sitting position, her back resting against the side of their transportation. "Alright, Erza let's go kick that windy bastard's ass!"

"Hm." She affirmed, giving an accompanying nod. She cast an appraising smile to the blonde. _"Don't worry Lucy! I will protect Master! I won't lose anything important to me again!"_

Erza and Gray rushed through the brush, exploding out onto the uneven ground the hill sloped up into. Through the thin brush and trees to their horror they could see Erigor standing in front of a tiny elderly man. A small hat with two backward bending horn like appendages adorned the balding area on the top of his head, the reaming white hair billowed softly in the evening breeze. His eyes seemingly closed, his upper lip was relaxed allowing the bushy white mustache that inhabitied it to sag slightly.

_"Shit!"_ Erza felt her heart drop into her stomach, the confident mood she had from before vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Master Makarov!" "Gramps!" Gray and Erza tried to call from the distance, but a familiar figure stepped into the way.

"Shhhhhh." The man...woman-person said with a finger pressed to their lips. "It's not everyday Macky gets to have a little fun, just sit back and relax. The best part is coming up, so just watch," He-she, _Master Bob_, the overweight crossdressing master of Blue Pegasus said in a sultry tone before his-her, _ugh that is just annoying_! _His _gaze shifted over towards Gray, "Oh my aren't you just a cutie."

Let's just say that she wasn't surprised when Gray hid behind her slightly.

"Master Bob?!" Erza questioned and then pressed in urgency. "We need to help Master Makarov, Erigor has Lulluaby!"

"We know that, just stay quite and watch." Master Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus chimed appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Choosing to trust in her Master, Erza abided by in wait as whatever interaction between the two white haired males played out. Ready to act at a moment's notice.

* * *

_"Huh, where I am?"_

_Natsu couldn't see two inches in front of his face. An eerie pitch blackness hovered around him. Like a thick fog he couldn't shake. He also could've sworn his sensitive ears were picking up sounds-whispers all around him, but they seemed to remain just outside of his auditory range._

_"Hello is anybody there?" He questioned. He tried to summon forth some flame to illuminate his way but no matter how hard he tried, his power wouldn't respond to him._

_Despite not being able to see anything, his world seemed to flip underfoot in a nauseating manner for a second. The whispers growing louder, still saying inaudible things in their collective ramblings._

_All of sudden light flooded into his eyes, an all too familiar picture painted before him. A peaceful mountain town under a bright afternoon Sun. Like static on a communications lacrima the image fuzzed out and changed. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it was loing enough to notice that something had changed. _

_"It was my home, you know." _

_Natsu whipped his head over his shoulder to lay his eyes on the new voice. Standing behind him was an all too familiar figure. A man the Dragon Slayer could only assume was in his mid-twenties. His short curly brown hair was styled wildly. His firm set jaw and heavy build making him appear as though he could've been a mill worker, possibly even a blacksmith. He certainly would've been deemed attractive to any women, except for one thing. The man's head was caved in on the left side of his forhead, just above the temple line. The fringes of the cratering charred black with blistered third degree burns._

_"You don't think I remember that?" He responded solemnly, turning around to fully face the man. Shifting his weight so it sat on one leg. The ominous whispering growing louder in the ambience._

_"To be honest...No." He said, his one good eye locking its blue iris to his onyx. _

_"What monster would forget about the first life he took?" _

_"That's funny," He said with a dark chuckle, "Not like you even knew my name."_

_White hot pain ran through his body, a seering burn as if he were momentarily split in half. The whispers around converted into flashes of screams of agony and pain. The roaring of fire. The scenery around him distorted and changed again, the crimson sky filling with thick angry black smoke, the stone pathway glazing over with ash, and despite not facing the town he knew the haunting scene it would portray._

_"It's not like you ever knew any of our names!" The brown haired man spat in venom as the pink haired boy clutched his head. "You knew absolutely nothing about us! What gave you the right to do that?!" The man further seethed, kicking the pink haired boy while he was down. The force behind the kick knocking Natsu on his ass._

_"I-I just wanted-" Natsu tried to rationalize, but the man would have none of it. Grabbing the boy by his spiky hair the man hauled him up to eye level. The massacred section of his skull now in its full glory before the boy's eyes. _

_"You don't think that we would like to to see our families again too?" he ground out, "To be alive?"_

_Natsu refused to meet his gaze, ignoring the painful senstation of his hair about to be pulled out. The scenary around them still flashing animately. "Ardet said-"_

_"Bullshit you don't actaully believe that." The man tossed Natsu back down to the ground._

_"The fuck d'you know what I believe or not? Huh?" He replied, anger laced in the undertone as he stood back up._

_"Because you're weak boy."_

_"You don't have the power to even make the decisions in your life anymore, it's all been decided for you."_

_..._

_"This is probably why your precious Dragon left you." A wicked sneer plastered on his sickening face._

_"Shut the fuck up."_

_"Oh what was that now boy?"_

_"I said shut-the-fuck-up." He growled out again, his bangs shadowing his face. _

_"You just lost though, didn't you say that you wouldn't lose again?" He countered back. "You dare kill us for your cause and then you lose, to someone as weak as Erigor no less?"_

_Natsu remained silent his gaze locked solidly on the ground. The ringing in his ears was becoming almost unbearable. "I...lost?"_

_"Are you really going to let us die in vain?" Natsu could hear the man walking up to him, but he was currently in too much of a haze. The chorus of screams was back now, he could barely discern the words of the man next to him. "Then you need power. Accept my power boy."_

_'Wait wha-' Before Natsu could even finish the thought and make out what was happening the man had shoved his hand square through the center of his chest._

* * *

Natsu shot up awake, searing pain racing racing down his right side as he felt his crack ribcage shift slightly under his cut skin. His vision was blurry, and his lungs felt heavy. He coughed heavily several times, bending himself over, watching as the blood spattered out onto the floor. He examined the crimson stained bandages that wrapped themselves most of the way around his body.

_"Who...?"_

He examined his surroundings through half lidded eyes. He wasn't sure where he was looking out the window, but he could tell he was in some sort of vehicle and that he'd been out for a long time. The thought of which made him slightly nauseated but he was in too much pain at the moment to really care.

Shuffling towards the side of the car he lazily kicked out the door, breaking the item clean off its hinges. It landed on the ground with a muffled clang against the grass, sliding several feet before coming to a halt. He stumbled out, barely keeping his balance.

He was slightly surprised by the startled yelp, not even noticing the familiar scent his enhanced senses had provided for him until he laid eyes on her.

"Oh Luigi..." He rasped out through burning lungs.

"S-Salamander! W-wha-! D-dont t-think I'll let you escape!" The blonde squeaked from her position on the ground to his left. "And my name is Lucy!" Although she tried not to show it, he could tell the girl was obviously tired. Magically exhausted at least.

_"Huh? Escape? The hell is she talking about."_ He studied the girl for several more seconds, to tired to actually do anything before three more familiar scents found their way to his nose. One of the three flaring his anger. Through grinded teeth he asked, "Luigi is Erigor over there."

"I-I don't know, but I'm not letting you go over there!" She said in defiance, shakily getting to her feet. Pulling off one of the golden keys that was hanging from the key chain that was wrung around her belt. It glowed gold as she poured magic into the key, "**Open Gate of the Golden-**" However the magic inside the key destabalized and in a flash of gold, the spell failed much to the horror of the caster who looked at him terrified.

_"I'm honestly tired of that look."_ He simply sighed and started making his way towards where Erigor's scent was coming from in a slow teetering walk. The lust of revenge and battle began to creep its way into his mind as the adrenaline seeped into his system, draining away the aching pain that wracked his body with every step. The life appeared to be slowly coming back to his hollow dead eyes. Which widened slightly in surprise when a fearful blonde somehow managed to put herself in his way, arms and legs spread wide. Her chest heaving from the physical exertion.

"I-I told you before-," she panted, "I'm not going to let you up there! I can't let you fight Erza! She's trying to save master, and I told her I'd keep you here."

Natsu cocked his head to the side, studying her. He could tell she was very afraid. her heart rate had risen, and breathing became accelerated. The muscles of her legs and arms were rung taut in places. He could practically-_no quite literally_ smell the fear that radiated from the blonde.

His nuetral epression dropped into a scowl, his eyes hardening. He could hear the blonde's breath hitch in her chest. Somewhere deep down this only flared his anger even more, although he wasn't completely sure why. He walked up to the blonde their noses inches apart as he glared into her eyes. "Lucy," he hisses, "I only want to fucking incinerate that Shinigami bastard. I couldn't give _two shits_ about Red at the moment."

Natsu lifted up a hand, pointing one finger on her chest above her ample breast. "He just made me relive something that I was hoping not to see again for a while. I need to pay him back for that." He pushed ever so lightly against the solid expanse of her sternum causing he the girl to lose her balance and fall onto the ground with a small yelp. "You understand, right?"

She looked confused, conflicted sitting there as he walked around her and continued on the path the would lead him to Shinigami Erigor.

"Hey-wait, come back!"

"Salamander-wait!"

"Natsu!"

He ignored the calls of the blonde for him to come back, giving a small backhanded wave over his shoulder at the call of his name as he continued to pick up his pace from his swayed stride against the will of his aching limbs.

However for whatever reason her morbid, _"I'm sorry guys."_ seemed to resonate within him as he reached the top of the hill, now by sheer willpower at a full on sprint.

* * *

_"Geez,"_ Master Makarov sighed tiredly in his head, _"Kids these days are just so stubborn anymore._"

No matter what path of subliminal reasoning he tried to talk down Shinigami Erigor, the younger white haired bastard wouldn't take the bait. Erigor seemed dead set on ending his life.

"Well how about it Old Man, would you like to hear a song from this poor traveling musician, I need to make a living somehow you know." He said with what Makarov could only assume was an attempt at a friendly smile, but it just came off as plain creepy.

"Sure. Just one I'm busy though."

The man had slowly put the flute up to his lips, Makarov could practically see him shaking with anticipation.

_"Guess I have no choice."_ He relented tiredly. Before Makarov even had a chance to use his **Giant Fist of Justice **to squash the younger white haired man like a bug where he stood. Someone exploded from the woods, tackling Erigor from around the waist. His scyth and Lulluby clattering to the ground Makarov watched as the two figures grappled on the ground in a flurry of limbs.

The assaulter, a heavily wounded pink haired youth, managed to gain the upper hand. Rolling over the two over and stradling the stunned Shinigami's chest. Both hands wrung around the dark mage's throat. "BUUUUUUURRRNNNNNNNN!" He bellowed enragedly.

Makarov's eyes widened slightly when his hands began to spark and simmer, the beginnings of a flame forming between his fingers.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Erigor screamed in pain as the heat seared the flesh of his throat, and with a motion akin to a slap with his free hand Erigor had blown the Fire mage clean off of him with a gust of wind before an actual flame could be formed.

The pink haired boy rolled out of his tumble, stabalizing out on all fours his head lower than his hips as he beared his fangs. He growled viciously, leveling a glare that would make any ordinary man tremble.

"What-how the hell are you alive?!" Erigor croaked out hoarsley, rubbing at the tender flesh of his throat while warily staring down his adversary.

He never responded, choosing instead to continue glaring. The heat coming off the boy increasing with every second that droned on like an eternity as the two had their face off.

_"What on Earthland is that magic?" _Makarov thought to himself with curiosity.

**"Ice Make: Lance!" **Was called out from a distance much to the surprise of everyone in the viscinity. Thick spear like creations of ice came tearing through the shubbery like a hail of bullets, moving indiscriminately to impail the two wizards.

Erigor, being the closer of the two, eyes widened in shock from the surprise attack holding up a two fingered hand and yelling, **"Storm Wall!" **The lances shattered harmlessly against the torrent of wind that appeared to protect its master.

Makarov had to admit he was quite impressed at the agility used by the second to dodge the projectiles that made it past the former despite his obvious injuries.

"Master Makarov!"

Gray and Erza emerged from the shrubery to face off the two males.

"Master! Stay away from those two!" Erza stated, coming to stand defensively in front of the small man, a sword now in hand. "The bandaged man especially, thats Salamander."

That little tidbit of information sent alarms ringing inside the Guild Master's. His initial pass off of the boy completely blown out of the water. It would certainly explain the ability shown moments ago however. He was ready to crush the boy himself, if need be. From all the records, he knew that this was a man not to be trifled with. He even had some reservations about letting Erza take his bounty. However in regards to the mysterious dark mage, he couldn't help but recall an uncanny resemblacne to something he'd heard long ago. Something he'd rather hope to just be a coincidence...

"Is he now..."

"Ahhhhhhh~. I see." Erigor chimed as he lazily walked over and bent down to pick up his scythe, leaving Lullaby in its resting place. With what looked like minimal effort, he heaved the heavy object, swinging it up and onto his shoulder. "You got saved by the Flies."

"So?"

"I never think the infamous Salamander would be so soft as to be saved by a couple of Flies~." Erigor sang, a dangerous glint now housed in his dark eyes. The tension between the two hanging thick in the air of the night. "Guess its time for me to take out the trash afterall."

Like a rope overbeared, the tension audibly snapped as Salamander launched himself forwards, the simmering ground he stood on crumbling underfoot. Pure rage etched onto his face as he charged forward.

However Erigor was ready, smiling sinisterly as he swung his namesake singlehandedly for the kill.

Makarov watched in mute interest as Salamander stopped mid-stride to reach out with his left arm and stop the scythe dead in its tracks much to the surprise of the wielder, the blade hamlessly behind his head. His right palm jetting across his body to slam into the cylindrical handle, causing the shaft to slip from the Shinigami's forearm and hammer into his ribcage. Erigor let out an audible grunt, his face contorted in a painful wince.

Salamander wasn't done there though. With a lightning fast reversal of grip so that his right arm was now underneath the handle, he slipped the handle up Erigor's side up and into the crook of his amrpit. Salamander used the leverage accomapnied by a mighty battle cry to lift the wind mage clean off his feet. Swinging him with unhuman speed and strength over his head and slamming Erigor flat on his back on the other side.

All who were present gaped in shock at the display of physical prowess, Master Makarov himself included. _"Such durability! What could possibly allow him to push his body to this extent in this sort of condition?"_

"Get up." He said coldy, standing over the downed form of Erigor. "I haven't even begun to show the difference between us."

Makarov saw Erza move to, what he could only assume as, subdue the two dark mages. "Erza." He said. The words halting the red headed knight in her tracks. "Leave them be."

"W-what?! Master you can't be serious! If a fight of this level happens in this town, j-just think of all the civilian losses-" However Makarov silinced her with the lift of a tiny hand, the two mages resuming their bout in the background.

"Oi. Oi." Gray added in tentitavely, "I have to agree with her on this one Gramps...you can't be serious about those two letting loose here, can you? They're both monsters."

_"It must be done. I need to make sure." _Makarov closed his eyes_._ "I understand, but this is an order as your Guild Master. _Do not_ interfere in this fight. I need to make certain of something. I will take all responsibility for what happens from here on out."

The two teammates exchanged unnerved glances, but could do nothing but comply with the order. Erza looking the more distrubed off the two, most likely because she's felt useless but Makarov needed to push that out of his mind for now. He needed to solely focus the fight taking place before him. If his attention is even deviated for a second, he could very easily miss the traces he was looking for. The words passesed down from the First to the Second, and from the Second to him refreshed themselves in his mind, as if it were some sort of unholy mantra.

_Drawn away from the Fairy's light_

_One man who burdens the whole world's plight_

_A young demon spewing dragon's fire_

_While the strings of fate, try to provoke his ire_

_Consumed by darkness he stands alone_

_Locked inside a world of his own_

_However light is kindled in his heart_

_Take careful heed not to tear it apart_

_Love's gentle tinder is all he needs_

_to set that light ablaze for all to see._

_"Mavis, please tell me...will the whole world really be on that man's shoulders?" _Makarov silently asked the wind, only hoping by some slim chance he could recieve a miracle_. "I can only hope it is not yet the time for this world to be gambling with its fate." _Makarov could only watch and wait for any signs from the boy in the battle that ensued.

* * *

Natsu could really feel the fatigue and pain that built up in muscles now, some of his wounds even started to bleed again, but he knew the fight was only getting started. Besides for the physical pain, he still had plenty of magic and was itching to let loose. "What do you say Erigor, ready to get serious?" The Dragon Slayer questioned in menace. Pieces of his bandages floated aimlessly around them in the evening air, dancing like rose petals in the wind. They'd somehow managed to work their way away from the side of the Hall, and now were standing in a clearing just on the edge of Clover Town.

In front of him, Erigor stood panting parts of his sternum bruised and battered but none the less fine. His scythe lay in a pile at his feet, the blade broken into dozens of tiny pieces by the contious onslaught of his fists blocked by the object. At this point Erigor was certainly more worn down over the duration of the fight than Natsu was, but in no way was the playing field level yet. Not even close.

"Don't get too cocky brat."Erigor spat, "Soon enough not even your flames wont be able to touch me, let alone your fists."

"Hah!" He laughed derisively, his face retaining its obvious anger, "I'd love to see that happen."

Natsu broke their deadlock and charged back into the fight, however Natsu noticed it looked as though Erigor was finally going to start using some spells. **"Storm Shred!" **Natsu was forced to break off from his head on charge and dart off to the side. Forcing his body to bend and flip at odd angles to dodge the nigh invisible flood of wind like blades under the moon's pale light. _"I can't find an opening!"_ He thought in frustration as his orbit prolonged.

Only a little to late did Natsu realize the trap laid for him, stepping onto a magic seal that flared into activation on his touch. **"Storm Bringer!"** Erigor called out maniacally. A tornado lifted up from under his feet, sucking him hundreds of feet into the air. Whipping him around in vicious cicles, his motion sickness kicking in slightly."Shit!"

He was suddenly flung outwards, heading directly towards the town at high speed. He adjusted his body, tearing through the roof of a building before landing on the ground with a large explosively burst of fire underfoot to adjust for his velocity. The stonework of the street cratering and cracking under the destructive power. Natsu looked around him at the scared and confused faces of those who peaked out of their house windows and few who lined the streets. The men, the women, the children wherever he went were always just scared of him! Did they just assume he was always a bad guy?! I mean he did crash through one of their roofs but still, jsut that look! He was so, sick and fucking tired ouf that look! He never asked to become a _monster_! _All's he wanted to fucking do was see Igneel again!_ _"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" _He thought, in his rage flames started to lick his skin arcross his chest and arms burning away whatever little the bandages covered to reveal his marred body for all to see. This only seemed to add to the horror of those spectating the intruder.

"If you don't wasnt to risk dying, leave!" He roared, however none dared move. "Get OUT! _NOW_!"

What was to follow could only be described as a full on panic ensued. Hundreds of people flooded out of their homes and began running towards the outskirts of town. And above them the second fight approached, floating gently towards them. Natsu sprinted forward, jumped and latched onto a second story window of a building with arm before shifting his weight upwards, and vaulting towards the roof to latch on with the other. He charged up the slanted roof and jumped into the air. Boosters of flame burst forth from of his feet as he flew back over rooftop after rooftop towards Erigor. Fist cocked back he chanted, **"Karyuu no... Tekken (Fire Dragon's Iron Fist)!"** Throwing the punch forward it exploded violently against the wind wall Erigor put up to nuetralize the attack, followed up by directing a powerful torrent at Natsu. Natsu fought against raging gales, flaring his boosters higher to true and power his way through but however high he pushed it Erigor somehow managed to match him.

_"Damn it!"_ He cursed to himself, realizing he was just wasting magic at this point. He let the winds taking him, carrying into a backflip before falling and tapping softly onto a roof. He grit his teeth in frustration. _"Why the hell can't I even get close to him now?"_

"Hahaha whats wrong Salamander," The tatooed man chided, "Finally noticed the differences in our abilities?"

"The hell are you talking about, my attacks have definitely had more power than yours."

The man glowered in irritation. "You really are stupid aren't you."

Natsu heatedly glared back, "Than what's your fuckin' point?"

The man sighed, putting a hand up to his face the other one crossing over his bare tatoo clad chest. "No point in explaining, I need to kill you and take my leave. I'll just have to try to find another way to exempt my revenge."

"Like I said early, d'you really think you got what it takes to kill me? You already failed once after giving it your best shot." Natsu said smirking devilishly, the air simmering around him as he felt his anger bubble up in remeberance of the arguable cheap shot. "You won't get such a good opportunity again, you know."

"I have to admit, I did underestimate you. Time for me to get serious now brat." Erigor crossed his arms over his chest, and brought up his legs as if he were in a crouch. Natsu could feel the air around him pull towards the man, flowing through the thick clumps of his blood caked hair and against his open wounds. **"Storm Mail!" **Voracious winds assimilated around his figure. Whipping wildly in a tight compact armor. Erigor's eyes glowed white with magic power, appearing through the winds as ominous orbs.

As soon as their eyes met he found himself blown off the roof he stood on unexpectedly. Stumbling as he hit the ground, he struggled to regain his balance. Uprighting himself in time to throw a fiery fist at the armor covered mage. Erigor didn't even bother trying to block. Upon impact the flame sizzled and flushed out of exitence in a plume of smoke. _"What the-" _he thought before finding himself blown back yet again, ample frustration exuded on his face.

"Just as I thought, most of your destructive power comes from your flames... fine, let me put it to you straight and simple." Erigor said sadistically, as he came down to face him on the street. "Flame can't go against headwind. Meaning that fire simply cannot defeat wind."

"Tch." Natsu scoffed. "Guess It's high time I get serious too." Fire exploded around his body much like back at Oshibana, scorching the stone where he stood. A nearby house unlucky enough to get caught in the initial flare catching alight as the flame came to equilibrium around his body. "Lets go! HUUUUUUUAAAHHHHH!" He bellowed as he headed in first yet again, flame trailing behind him-his whole body alight.

Before Erigor even had a chance to blow him back, Natsu pounded the man with punch after thunderous punch as his battle cry echoed. He could feel his hands being torn apart by the rapid torrent but he still contiuned the barrage. The sparks and embers of flame dancing high in the night air, illuminating the world around them beautifully.

Hoewver, Erigor was seemingly unphased through his guard tried blowing him back again. Natsu lost his foot and felt himself being lifted off the ground, his legs trailing behind his chest and his arms spread wide for balance. _"Not this time you little shit!"_

**"Karyuu no Enchuu (Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow)..."** Massive pillars of fire burst forth from Natsu's elbows, blowing his upper body back towards the other dark mage. **"to Karyuu no Yokugeki (Fire Dragon's Wing Attack)!"**

Planting his lead foot down onto the ground while lowering his torso, the flames that burst forth from his elbow assimialted to his forearm turning into tendrils of fire that came crashing down on Erigor in sync to the motion of his arms. The entire area was blown apart by the force from the attack, the temperature skyrocketing. Multiple houses and stores on either side of the street from the explosion were were heavily damaged by the concussive blast alone if not hit by the flurry of stone shrapnel blown awry or lit ablaze. A heavy cloud of smoke shrouding the point of collision. The smoke thinned to show Erigor had been blown back. Skid marks etched into the stone before him. Natsu smirked to himself. The armor had _thinned_. He relished at the look of fear and shock that the Shinigami wore as his face receded from view, back behind the veil of winds.

Erigor came at him this time. Delievering a powerful straight kick into the stomach of his adversary, **"Karyuu no Kagitsume (Fire Dragon's Talons)!" **The winds morphed and buckled under the pressure from the fiery kick but did no more. Panic ran through his system when his leg just felt heavy all of a sudden. _"I can't be too tired yet! Move dammit!"_

"Bad move Salamander."

Natsu grit his teeth in pain as Erigor wrapped a winds clad hand around his already lacerated ankle. Erigor whipped him around like a rag doll and tossed him clean through the stone wall of a house. _"Oh Shi-!"_

He went through one house, two houses, thress houses-His vision went black.

Natsu opened his eyes to spinning panel wood floors. His body felt heavy yet again, the high of his adrenaline finally wearing off. If his ribs weren't broken before they certainly would be now. _"I guess it all finally catching up with me. Willpower can only get you so far."_ Most of wounds had reopened despite some level of caterization during some part of the fight. Warm, thick crimson blood pooled thinly between his chest and the floor. He forced himself to stand on unstable legs. He moved walked forwards, leaning against the new entrace his made to the room with one arm. He shifted his gaze up from the ground to see a wind clad Erigor standing through the holes he'd made two houses away.

"You put up a good fight Salamander, but this was a fight you were destined to lose." Raising his two hands, he made a cross fingered sign all too familiar to the Dragon Slayer.

**"Emera Baram."**

Unableto react to the high speed winds, much less move Natsu could only stand there and watch his impending death.

_"Like hell I will!" He thought in rage. THIS was certainly not where he was going to die. He definitely wouldn't allow it. _Natsu reached down deep inside his wounded body to find his barely depleteted magic. Summoning as much magic as he could to his burning lungs he bellowed,

**"Karyuu no HOUKOU (Fire Dragon's ROAR)!"**

The massive torrent of fire dearly double the size of the Emera Baramblast forth. The two attacks colliding. The resulting explosion nearly leveled the entire neighborhood as a great white light consumed the area.

When Natsu opened his eyes yet again, everything swam like before. The world around him was covered in flame and rubble. He felt an opressive weight on his lower back and legs. His eyes blurred he was blacking out again. He could feel the tell tale signs of blood loss. The world around him started to recede from view.

_"No, Get Up!"_

_"You dare kill us for your cause and then you lose, to someone as weak as Erigor no less?"_

_"GET UP!"_

_"__You put up a good fight Salamander, but this was a fight you were destined to lose."_

_"lose."_

_"Lose."_

_"GET THE FUCK UP!"_

_"Accept my power boy."_

Hahaha...Hahahahahahah...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!

* * *

**Chap Three is done! Fuck yeah! Took me longer than expected but I think it turned out pretty good! What could possibly be happening to Natsu? I wonder :o. Well enough of me being an ass, I'll get on with what I want to say. I plan to put out a chapter for this story ever two weeks or earlier in June! I will try to stay fairly consistent with updates if my work schedule allows it! I hope you enjoyed, don't forget to review and follow for more if you enjoyed! As always stay golden mein fruends! I'll catch you next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Erigor felt the sharp pinch of rubble digging into his knees as he coughed the airborn dirt from his lungs. He couldn't bring himself to care at the moment though. The Shinigami just stared down at the reddened skin of his shaking arms in the dim light of flame as his coughing fit subsided. The blistering pain of his light burns coursing throughout the entirety of his front. **Storm Mail** had all been but blown away in the wake of the final collision of magic, allowing him to be consumed in a sea of heat and wind.

The wind mage slowly rolled his muscular shoulder, relishing in the tiny cracks and pops as the joint readjusted its location in the socket. Taking slight notice of the numb bruising signifying muscular tears. He had been blown into a light lachrima post and bulleted through a brick wall into the collapsing form of a burning two story house. Luckily enough for him the mangled metal pole managed to support a part of the structure enough so that he wasn't crushed to death in his tumble. He was glad his master wasn't there to see the pitiful state a fire user had managed to put him in.

Erigor slowly crawled out from his crevice and surveyed the aftermath. Erigor gasped and marveled at the destruction around him. Like a downed forest, all the tallest structures surrounding them had been severely damaged if not practcally downed. He was practically standing in a swamp of stone, wood, and flame. A heavy haze of dirt and smoke filled the air. His ears could faintly hear the annoyingly noisy commotion that his previous targets were making back at their meeting hall.

_"My biggest concern right now is if Salamander survived that...I don't think I can afford to be here much longer if I wish to escape...can't having him tie me up any longer. I've also used a good bit of magic today..." _Erigor thought hastily as he stumbled away from the house. No matter how at ease he told himself he felt, something just wasn't _right_. _"Still what was...that." _

In the moments before Salamander's last attack Erigor felt like he got a fleeing glimpse at something he shouldn't have seen. As if mustering up that power brought up something else along with it. Something so dark and undeniably evil he had to even question if it was something he actually felt at all or if he was just losing his mind. Something so vile and sinister that he had to question whether even the infamous _Salamander_ was capabable of releasing an aura like that. That chilling sensation of bloodlust so strong that it felt like it could rip him limb from limb just from that little espy. The eerie silence and heavy ambience didn't sit well with him either.

However no matter how much he told himself that Salamander was defeated and that sensation he had earlier was just a fluke. His uneasiness would just not go away, like he could sense that something unbelievably big was about to happen. A knot slowly formed its way in the pit of his stomach.

"Stop there Shinigami Erigor." A familiar feminine voice called out from behind to him.

"Ah fuck..." Erigor cursed under his breath as he turned to face the newcomers, "Seems like I've overstayed my welcome."

_"Damn it I must've lost track of time thinking! Now I have to deal with these damn flies!"_ He thought hastily while looking for a means to escape.

"Can it asshole. We're taking you and your pink haired boyfriend in. Lets go." He heard the, yet again, shirtless one say. "Even if we have to force you."

_"Hahahaha."_

Erigor felt his whole body tense reflexively at the chilling laugh. A shiver running up his spine and a cold sweat breaking out all over his body. His body starting to instinctively fill with an emotion almost completely alien to the white haired man. _Fear. He felt like he knew exactly why too. Although ever so subtle...it was back. Like the sensation of someone staring at you that just prickles at the back of your consciousness._

"What's so funny yah windy bastard?!" The male questioned furiously. He noticed the red head looked more apprehensive, her eyes widening before narrowing sternly, and shifted her guard. Could she feel the same thing he did? The shirtless man clenched his fists in anger, at what Erigor could only assume was his question unanswered, but a quick change in the male's demeanor signified he seemed to pick up the faint power as well.

All the Shinigami could muster himself to do was shake his head slowly. The childish instict that if he moved very slowly the monster in the dark wouldn't notice him taking over. Slowly rotating his body mechanically so he now looked over his shoulder towards the direction the muffled laugh came from. Somewhere behind him to his left.

_"Hahahahahhahahaha!"_

The evening temperature around them slowly started to increase. The rubble of a collapsed building about twenty meters away began to glow a heated red. It visibily vibrated and pulsed with ample frequency. The air around it simmering with mirage. The rubble shifted once, twice, a third time before stilling and the temperature ceasing to climb. A blistering heat still enveloping the medium around them.

The three mages watched in avid attention. Seemingly frozen in time as they watched. None moved.

_"HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!"_

Suddenly the flood gates burst and the air grew oppresively heavy. Erigor found himself nearly falling to his knees as he fought against the pressure. A dark menacing aura like none other came radiating forth from the collpased building. A pillar of brilliant orange fire exploded into the heavens. The stone and surrounding material blown apart in a messy liquified state. The molten liquid radiating outwards like a briny spray. Erigor felt as if his skin was about to melt off just from being in the near viscinity of the heat. The expanse of power began to shake the earth violently, loose debris all around them began levitating and vibrating with an even more incredible frequency than before.

"W-what the hell...?!" He cursed in revulsion.

"Gray! Get us a shield!" He heard the knight command her comrade, the change in volume of her voice indicating she turned towards him. "Gray?! What's wrong?!"

Erigor rotated back to see Gray on all fours. Shivering in fear like a newborn pup. His eyes wide and teeth clenched. He grabbed uselessly at the stone beneath him. His fingers pressed white as he grated them into fists. Like trying to exorcise his head of some kind of nightmare Gray began to continuously shake his head back and forth wildly.

"Gray snap out of- Aghhh!" The woman screamed out, falling to a knee, as a large glob of the molten liquid landed on the guantlet covering her arm. The metal letting of a malicous hiss before it disappered in a dance of golden particles. Erigor could feel the pain of some from the spray and the ferociously hot gales stinging his body, but he knew he didn't have the time to be worrying about that right now.

Erigor turned back to the fire storm, watching in horror as Salamander's hunched over form raised to his feet. The teen leaning back, arms spread wide as his cackles contiued to resound through out the night air. The foul dark power growing stronger and stronger by the passing second. The flame's color wavering between the boy's infernal rustic flame and an ethereal white farther up the pillar. Illuminating the sky in an ironically divine light.

Out of nowhere_...the hideous laughter stopped. _In a few seconds the fire died down as well. Whatever hadn't been completely destroyed in the mass of energy started to drop back down to earth. Salamander stood hunched over all by his lonesome in the middle of scorched and reddened earth, ash, and melted stone. If whatever _that_ was could even be _considered_ Salamander.

"No way..." He heard the Knight gasp in fear behind him. World shattering disbelief in her voice.

_"W-what the hell is that?!" _Erigor again futilely tried to comprehend the situation. His mind ran a thousand miles a minute. _"T-this isn't how things were supposed to go at all, damn it! Is this some kind of nightmare?!"_

He was supposed to smoothly recieve Lullaby.

He was supposed to have one of the most infamous mages in the country as his ally.

He was supposed to have killed the guild masters for all the injustices done to them!

Things weren't supposed to be this way.

So why the fuck was he now here faced with this monster?! This _god forsaken demon!_

Erigor wached in frozen terror as the pink haired teen's body steamed. His wounds were closed up and healed as if they hadn't even been there in the first place. Almost the entirety of the upper left side of his body was consumed in some sort of black shadowy aura. The black haze extended from around his now terrifying red iris down across his face, shoulder and torso. His left arm was now looking more beastial, his fingers elongating and sharpening into blade like claws. His pink hair had even been invaded by the shadowy wisps. The only this that seemed somewhat comforting was the golden tetra patterned palisade that radiated luminously along the border of the dark mass. A crazed grin and a wide set of mismatched eyes turned to lock with Erigor's.

Reflexively Erigor quickly raised a shaking hand to try and do something to the beast in front of him, but to his confusion he now found himself pointing at the ground. He was staring at it too? He felt a lot of liquid fill up his mouth. He opened it, but to his surprise heaves of crimson blood spattered out onto the rubble covered earth below him. Jagged edges of stone and splintered wood now doused in a horrid crimson.

_"Huh?" _He thought.

Then he felt it. The white hot pain that was screaming through his nerves in his abdomen. He shakily turned his head downward and to the left as more blood leaked from his lips. A red and onyx iris met yet again with his. The wind mage's view shifted lower and he saw with mute horror the blackened arm that was shoved square through his stomach.

_"N-no way, I never even saw him move...I never-"_

_**"Erigor!"**_ Someone shrieked.

Erigor raged desperately against the darkness that encroached his vision. His mind wouldn't even assemble a rational thought. It just raced through all of his memories in incoherent strains. Delineating from their normal order. Then it simply flashed into nothingness, and that was all she wrote.

* * *

_Several Minutes Earlier._

Makarov gaped in unmitigated horror from where the guild masters had gathered. He had felt small traces of..._this _during the fight as it appeared ever so subtly below the rage burning in his flames. However, Makarov hadn't anticipated even in his wildest dreams about this sort of full on release. The earth and the air even seemed to tremble in fear. Waves upon waves of malice, hatred, and rage rolled progressively from the new clearing forged into the center of Clover Town. A shrill maniacal cackle covered the gap all the same as the unbearably dark aura seeped into the very flesh and blood of every soul witnessing the event. The massive pillar of flame marking the source and illuminating the night sky for all to see.

"W-what on Earthland...?!" Makarov questioned in shock as he weighed his options below the warring trains of thought. Despite already knowing the truth, seeing it for another thing was beyond credence. The horrified din of his colleagues not doing much to sooth his worries. "_A being on this level is not something my children will be able to defeat._ _I'm certain Gray remembers this aura, I'm sure h__e'll be able to tell and hopefully act more tactfully, but I'm worried about Erza. She'll most likely still see that thing as Salamander. The only option it seems is for me to go subdue the demon myself... Jose picked a bad meeting to miss being present from..." _Makarov took a second to take measure of the scale of power surging forth_."...If that boy isn't able to find some sort of restraint against himself and allows that power to continue to grow, not even I will be able to settle things without getting messy."_

To make matters worse Makarov felt that another dark presence decided to make its appearance. _"Things are surely getting too chaotic for my liking."_

"It can't be!" The coarse multi-chorused voice seemed to bray out into the night. A faint purple glow betraying the voice's origin hiding in the grass. "This power! It can't possibly be?! None other like it should exist! Could it be that the Gates of Hell have already been reopened?"

The three eyed skull of Lullaby began to glow powerfully before the ominous purple light enveloped its entire frame. It began to morph stretch and grow at a rapid pace inside another massive tower of light until a monstrous horned mass of wood loomed over them. The wooden monster was so large it even towered over the surrounding mountains. It completely ignored the humans scrambling at its feet to focus its attention on the center of Clover.

"How many years has it been since I've last been awake?! 100?! No, 200 years?!"

"Hmmmmm. What's this demon rambling about?" In the midst of chaos Makarov turned to the voice of disinterest that chimed underneath the large demon's incoherent babble. "Seems as though we can't rely on the young ones anymore tonight can we?"

"That would be for the best." He replied curtly, quickly glancing at the raging flames that split the sky.

"Well I would probably want to get a handle on that one over there. Don't want that much power on the loose for to long. I'll tidy up things over here, you go put that thing down." Goldmine replied with a sigh. "Although we're getting to old for this Mak. Why couldn't things have been as hot blooded when we were younger?"

"Indeed, but -" However before Makarov was able to finish he was cut off.

"Awwwwww come on Goldy." Master Bob caroused as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "You know that this just makes your youthful blood boil. Besides, you can't tell me you were about to take all the juicy bits over here for yourself were you?"

"And if I was?"

"Well you know how angry I'd be." An odd sinister aura forming around the merry man as he butted heads with the other Guild Master.

The roar of an engine suddenly came into earshot, separating the two, and moments later the magic four-wheeler exploded through the tree line bringing with it streaks of dirt and shrubbery as they clung to the tires. It flew past the wooden monstrosity and blared its horn in warning to all of those in its path. The vehicle slammed to a stop in front of the trio, hiking up slightly on its front two tires as it came to a halt.

"Master Makarov!" The familiar blonde chirped as she regained her composure at the vehicle's helm. Exhaustion written all over her face. "What's going on?! What happened to Erza and Gray?! Salamander?!"

The sudden disappearance of the ethereal light gained the crowd's alarmed attention, even Lullaby.

"Pitiful humans! I am not fully aware of the events that have happened thus far, but even the likes of I can tell many souls are about to fall to hell!" Lullaby proclaimed zealously as it took one massive earth rattling step forward, it's beady purple eyes still locked on the epicenter of Clover. "It seems that a demon is about to be born before our very eyes on this land! Yes, even one more powerful than myself!"

"More powerful then...Lullaby?" Lucy questioned, evidence of fear laced in her shaking voice. "W-what's more powerful than a curse of... death?"

"Erza and Gray are down there. Details can come later, It's urgent we-" Makarov began through solemn half lidded eyes.

**_"Erigor!" _**The shrill shriek cut through the night air.

"Erza?!" Lucy questioned in horror.

With a look of alarm and no further drabble the Master of Fairy Tail hopped onto the four-wheeler, and the buxom blonde took off immediately.

"What happened with Salamander and Erigor?" Lucy questioned as the duo began their rampage across the expanse that separated themselves and what she could only imagine as absolute horror. Each rapid jolt of the suspension seeming to resonate with the quaking fear that ever so slightly shook her. Makarov had to commend her for the brave front that she was putting up.

"Salamander had fought Erigor. He had seemingly fought to a standstill. The rest I'm still trying to figure out for myself. Please...Lucy, once you get Gray and Erza... Leave."

The vehicle lost speed ever so slightly as she reeled back in protest, her brown orbs staring in a vehement defiance. "No Master! I refuse! I'm tired of not being able to do anything! I need to show-"

"This is an **_order_**!" Makarov boomed cutting her off, their speed faltering even more. "No matter what you do, something of this caliber is simply too much for the three of you to handle...I don't wish to see anymore of my children pass before I do. So please my child, stay out of this fight. There's nothing wrong with being afraid."

Lucy gazed uncertainly into the old man's eyes, biting tenderly on her lower lip. He could see her intent to protest, but also the fear she so desperately pushed to the back of her mind. The corona of emotion revolving uselessly in its own obscure densities.

"...If not for me then for your own safety. I'm sure you felt that level of magic power..."

The newest addition to Fairy Tail didn't mutter another sound as she slowed the vehicle to a complete stop. Their destination having been practically met. The sounds of combat filtering through the murky ash and smoke filled environment. Makarov noticed the ground cast stare she gave. Her shadow banged face hardly hiding the tears of frustration that dripped down her fair cheeks. "I'm sorry Master...I'm so scared I can't control myself...I-I'm so ashamed."

"Fear no more child." The elderly man said soothingly. A vein bulging from his head as he stepped off, a warm magic power beginning to radiate off of him. "I will end this soon enough. You children have done enough. It is much too soon for you to bear the sins of the past!"

_"I only hope that it's not to late, my children! Please wait for me! Erza! Gray!" With his resolve set, the Master of Fairy Tail was now ready for battle._

* * *

**_"Erigor!" _**Erza shrieked louded then she had ever before. Her vocal chords strained with the sudden harsh vibration.

Before her very eyes the Ace of Eisenwald, A questionable S-Class mage, had been impaled, no _damn near cleaved in half_ like it was child's play...as his body rested limply on top of...of...

Words had just completely failed her at this point.

"I have to be dreaming. Things just aren't making enough sense anymore..." She rationalized with herself as the godless being before her lowered its arm, allowing the body to slide of the bestial black arm with a stomach curling visceral splurch.

"Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrr," Salamander, well _it_, growled throatily. The feral look that engrossed his entire face remained intact. It turned to look at the red haired knight. His, or whatever the hell this was, soulless eyes peered into her. A semblance of emotion barely even left in the one untouched eye. Instead replaced by a killing intent so strong it blew that feeling she got at Oshibana out of the water. She had no idea what had happened to Salamander but she knew what stood a being of pure and utter desolation.

_"W-what is this man...?"_

_"Wait...is he even **human**?"_

**"Kanso!(Re-quip!)"**

In a near instant her bloodied and ashen blotched blouse and blue skirt was replaced. Her eyes widened in fear as she pushed her two rapieresque swords out in front of her to block the regularly almost impossibly fast strike from a blacked arm. The flat hand smashed into the crossed over swords at lightning speed. She felt the metal strain as its durability was tested. It's strong steel giving off a pained clang.

Overwhelmed by the blow, Erza was buffeted backwards. The abundant debris gave little room for clear purchase. Loosing her balance, Erza stumbled backwards, rolling over the sharp debris and adding a couple more cuts to the collection over her scantily clad body as she grunted in pain. Only her breasts were covered by a leather cheetah-print breastplate. Discarding any sort of waist guard for a pair of tight black shorts with a bushy fox tail and belt that held an olive cloth over her left leg. A pair of now ripped blue stockings, silver metal shin guards, a hair band with cheetah ears, and a pair of tan combat boots covered the rest.

**"Hishou no Yoroi (Flight Armor)." **The redhead breathed out with a pinched eye. Even with the massive speed boost she still could only see him clearly when he begins to accelerate and when he decelerates slightly for the attack. Although compared to before it gives her a much more room for reaction times. However if at any point in between it moves out of her field of vision it could be dangerously lethal for her. The knight's eyes flickered to her comrade out of the corner of her eye. From what she could gather, he was still shaken up about _something_. She needed to keep this thing away from him...or else Gray wasn't going home...or else neither of them were going home...she just needed to wait until...well until something happened!

The next moment the knight was back on her feet, pushing off the ground with her hands and easily planting her feet back down on an exposed patch of roadwork.

Salamander was staring at her with feral curiosity, cocking his head to the side in animalistic fashion. His blood stained arm dripping relentlessly.

_'Damn it! Gray could patch Erigor up temporarily if only he wasn't in that state...or if I could even talk to him without drawing attention to him!' She clenched the swords in her_ grip,_ yet again crushing the fear held in her heart in a vice grip of resolve for the surely suicidal thing she was about to do. 'If we stand any chance of surviving this...I need to control this fight!"_

Erza burst forth and swung her left sword with a beast like intensity of her own. The slightly hunched being raised its hand with graceful simplicity and caught the weapon by its blade, trapped between its palm and thumb. Wasting no time in afterthought she swung the sword in her right hand that she had trailing behind in a downwards arc before it swung back up in a vicious uppercut attempting to severe the blood stained appendage at a point above the elbow. Seeing the blurred image of his other arm and his rotating hips in her periphery she brought her shoulder down into the uppercut, leaned to the left, and rotated her body so that her back now faced him. She felt the altered course of her strike hit his wrist, slicing clean through the joint, as the flat form of his regular hand exploded past her head. The appendage taking with it some of her crimson hair in a powerful gust of air that punched a cylinder clean through the smoky ambience all around them before it was quickly filled in again. The scarlet strands dancing beautifully to the ground in the murky moonlit air.

The knight, feeling her confidence build slightly, now using the momentum of her rotation to swing both of her now freed blades in a powerful two pronged attacked. "Huuuuuahhhhhh!" She bellowed as she swung towards the sinister unprotected flesh of his left side.

However to her surprise she was met with a steel like resistance instead of the soft viscera below Salamander's muscular build. Instead of passing clean through like with the wrist, the shadowy aura had actually managed to stop both of her blades. Much more to her concern, she sensed the beast was about to rain a blow down on her. Pushing backwards fiercely she rolled backwards over more sharp debris as she skid to a halt by stabbing her swords into the ground in order to stop. The carnage of debris all around her putting countless nicks into the fine steel. The ground rumbling beneath her feet and plume of smoke gave her a very bad feeling.

She looked in aghast at the raw destruction the single punch had done.

The beast now stood in its own circular crater seven or so meters deep. To Erza's horror the beast stood up, removing it's fist from the dirt, and rolled its wrist. The blacked claw flexed and strained, testing the limits its master put it through. Each sharped finger spread out wide as if they longed to pierce and slash the very sky they faced. This was the same abomination she had cut off _only seconds ago_.

_'Impossible!' The knight thought as she cooly let out a steady breath, 'Regeneration is black magic! Not only that, but even monsters that can regenerate can't do it instantaneously!"_

The beast clenched its fist tightly and squared up to her again. It had a wide spread stance, with its head craned upwards slightly, and stared menacingly at her with beady eyes. It was leaning backwards slightly, the overtaken section of Salamander's body being protected by the golden levy was held slack. Its right arm dangly at its side. The stance was certainly sloppy and was easily vulnerable to many openings, but with the thing's speed and reaction time Erza was having a hard time deciding which pattern of attack was the best option. Instead of simply thinking three or four moves ahead like she normally tried to do, this was an opponent that she probably wanted to be eight to ten against. The shadowy wisps swaying gently in tune to the gentle breeze, much like the scarlet strands of her hair. Defeat hung in the air like a pressing weight. Although it was bearable for now, eventually her already strained stamina would run out and she would be crushed.

_'So this is what it feels like to fight a losing battle? I thought I was long past this...'_

A gust of wind slowly circled around the knight, picking up the loose particles of ash and dirt that hung in the air around them in its swirl. The beastial grin of the monster before her fell at the surge of power that invigorated the woman. The being cocked its head to the side once again, curious at the actions of its adversary.

Bursting into the crater the scarlet haired women used the acceleration of gravity and the circle of the crater to swing around the possessed Salamander's rear and once again deliver a forceful blow to Salamander's side, this time to the real unprotected flesh of his right side.

However as expected it reached out and grabbed the swords with its blackened claw. The being looked slightly mesmerized as golden particles filled its field of view, flaring violently in contrast to the night. Erza pushed inside the being's reach, her swords now gone and replaced with another. A large sword with a thin purple and silver hilt, and a near nonexistent guard that traced its way up the long blade. The infamous blade from her **Kureha no Yoroi (Black Wing Armor)** set.

She sliced upwards cleaving clean through the blacked arm, separating the limb by the shoulder, a spray of crimson surprising her before she continued with her motion swinging around with catastrophic force in an attempt to decapitate the being.

As expected from the knight though the being reached up and gripped the sword bare handed with its right hand. The massive blade stopping dead in its tracks. The massive amount of momentum seemingly disappearing beneath the might of a mountain. In that very same interest she noticed the demonic presence didn't even seem so much as phased at the loss of limb, despite the massive amounts of blood that sprayed, leaked, and splattered out onto the ground beneath it from inside the mass of shadow.

_'It seems as though the more damage is done the longer it takes to regenerate...Also why did it penetrate the skin?'_ The knight noticed what she hadn't the first time she severed a limb. The shadowy wisps ate away at the dismembered limb until it was no more._ "Whatever it is doesn't seem to have taken full possession of Salamander, or maybe its just that Salamander doesn't have full control of it's power yet. This must've been some sort of trump card. Some insane trump card. In that case-'_

The blade began to crack under the pressure of the beast's grip, forming spider web cracks in the hard forged steel. Erza quickly switched back to the sword set from her **Hishou no Yoroi(Flight Armor)**.

Erza began a furious onslaught of slices with the lightweight blades. The knight sliced in a diagonal x-fashion across Salamander's chest. The blades drawing blood along the segments of his tanned flesh that they traced across. The blackened skin resisted with the steel like resistance, she felt a strange momentary pull of extraordinary gravity, before slicing across in a torrential spin this time both blades cutting clean across Salamander's abdomen, blackened section and all.

She successfully predicted the punch that the beast threw with it's good arm, the arm in which she severed regenerated up unto the elbow. Ducking under it with a well timed lean. She weaved her body and stabbed into the shadowy flesh of his left shoulder. Erza used the sword as a springboard as she jumped and flipped over behind Salamander. Allowing the sword to tear a deep gash straight through his shoulder.

Erza was surprised at the sudden pull on her tail when she landed. Next thing she knew she was hurdling through the air after the sound of tearing fabric. She landed roughly against the upper wall of the crater, sliding slightly down the steep wall before she briefly stopped herself with a sword.

Her eyes quickly snapped to Salamander. He held her leopard's tail in one hand, pieces of black pants fabric still attached to the end of the object, as he stared at the ground beneath him. His eyes flickered from the item of clothing and the ground.

_'Did he just ...throw me?' _She questioned her own senses in astonishment. Then it clicked._ 'With so much force that it tore my armor...you've got to be kidding me. It wasn't going to be a throw!'_ She didn't even want to imagine the damage her body would've taken if the tail hadn't ripped.

His eyes darted up towards her. The knight instinctually, whether by fear or experience she couldn't tell, threw herself out of the hole. However she realized the mistake of taking her eyes off of the foul creature a second too late.

She frantically looked around once she landed, but a tremendous weight settled itself upon her back.

"Nnnngggaaaahhhh!" She cried out in pain. Her ribcage and sternum felt like they were about to burst under the force Salamander's foot pushed her down with. Her brown eyes felt as if they would pop out of their sockets at any moment. Her spike creaking underneath the protection her magic provided. The very ground around them shimmered with pain. _'Fuck!' _

"Hahahahaha!" The inhumanely grotesque creature cackled. "Huuuu...man." The being rasped out.

Erza turned her head to the side to stare in shock._ 'Did it actually just speak? Or is the pain messing with my rationality?'_

"Mem-or-ies" The beast asked almost sensitively, it's foot bearing down with the strength of a giant. "Dra-gon?"...However the being's face quickly contorted in rage. It's left hand coming up to grip its face tightly. More of the dark matter continuing to encroach Salamander's body. The golden aura trim around the darkness flaring even brighter in the night. "He...did-this!"

To Erza's fear a familiar burning sensation began tingling on exposed flesh of her back. Her confusion for the situation building in tandem. A lone orange flame began to simmer in Salamander's right hand.

_'N-no way! It can still use magic?!...It was just toying with me?!' _The Knight thought as she watched the flame grow bigger. Its burning radiance sweltering and not even slightly hampered by the air's condition. Erza pushed with all of her might, the ground cracking slightly under her grip from the pressure, but Salamander's leg wouldn't give an inch. _'All of you...please forgive me, I guess this was my final test to prove my readiness, but I've failed.' _

Erza was surprised by the sudden spike in magic power. Not blistering and infernal, but warm and familiar. The area's air pollutants were blown away with a massive burst of power, revealing the ironically imposing figure of Fairy Tail's Master.

His stoic faced betrayed by the vast sea of magic power he began to release. Storm clouds gathered and blotted the moonlit sky, allowing only for the illumination from the hellfire that teetered around them. Casting a setting that one would expect only in the depths of hell to appear around them. The ground trembled and small loose debris began to levitate once again under the incredible pressure. He stood there solemnly resolute.

"I'm sorry it took so long, Erza. I'm sorry my indecision has caused you this much harm. Rest easy now. I will take care of everything from here on out." Master Makarov said in confidence. His voice was soft, but you could hear the power in which it held.

"M-Master." She sighed in relief as the pressure on her back decreased. The being freezing in place as it seemed to take measure of the immense presence. _'It seems all will end now...Master isn't one of the Ten Wizard Saints for nothing. Although Salamander's power has certainly been above mine so far, Master's power is still far beyond even that.__' _However the seeds of doubt continued to root in her mind. Something told her that what she thought wasn't necessarily true.

Erza couldn't believe her eyes as instead of becoming the least bit intimidated it took two steps forward towards Makarov. Each standing on their own side of the crater. Erza felt an smothering weight bear down as a titanic, although fluctuating, power unlike any other she'd ever felt erupted from Salamander. She could feel Salamander's magic power, but it seemed to mix homogenously with another vast power. It didn't seem to even want to pay the slightest bit of attention to it's previous plaything.

_'Don't look down on me you fucking scum!'_

Her body moving in a forceful frenzied mix of fret and anger as she summoned one of her Heart Kruez swords against the conflicting tides of power. She was completely unaware of the weight that her own actions bore, much less the consequences at this moment in her mind. She was acting purely on an emotional impulse. She thrust the blade forward looking to stab Salamander clean through his heart from behind. To her surprise the tip of the blade buckled harshly on contact, bending inwards on itself. The blade snapped in half.

The blade itself imbedded into the ground. Erza stood there for several seconds, staring in shock at the loose blade.

_'Those feelings that I got earlier, the reason that my blades couldn't cut him, these fluctuations...this was it isn't it! Is there really that big of a difference between us?!' _

Salamander still didn't even seem to acknowledge what had happened as he kept his eyes locked with her master, who also seemed to be in the same state.

She couldn't understand. She had come so far. Yet why did she still feel this way? Why did she turn and run? On this scale of power, she was no more then she was 10 years ago. This frustration. This _fear_. Those of which she tried to keep locked away for the longest time.

She couldn't contain all this pent up emotion inside her locked away heart any longer. At this moment they all spilled out like an unstoppable flood. This burden was slowly but surely eating away at her. Yet, what could she do? She was only one girl with the lives of her friends in her hands. What did she even expect herself to be able to do? Was this something she could even do? Were all of these years of conviction simply bravado? Is she even one capable of saving her friend's lives?

As if the heaven's themselves wanted to know the answer to the questions her mind plagued itself with within that instant. In that moment a voice rang out.

"AHHHHHHH_HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**_!"

Erza stopped in her tracks only several steps as a third magical energy appeared in the frictional air as the powerhouses had their stand off.

_'Gray?' _Her thoughts froze at the sound of her friend's increasingly shrill cry that resounded from the blue shroud of mist and magic aura that sprouted up from his location from her left. The magic power dwarfed by the two colossus.

Oh gods. How could she have forgotten about Gray? Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, _no, no, no! _

"YOU! YOU WHAT ARE YOU?!" Gray bellowed hysterically, his eyes wide in fear. What surprised Erza the most were the tears that he allowed to fall freely. "WHY THE FUCK DO YOU FEEL SO MUCH LIKE THAT DAMNED DEMON?! HUH?! WHAT RELATION DO YOU HAVE TO DELIORA?!"

Only the whispers of the wind answered his calls.

"ANNNNNNNSWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEERRRRRRRRR MEEEEE! SALAMANDER! WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT POWER?!" He continued to interrogate, with yet again no response from the occupied man. "ARE YOU ONE OF THEM?!"

"YOU ARE AREN'T YOU?! I'M NOT LETTING WHAT HAPPENED 10 YEARS AGO HAPPEN AGAIN!"

Gray hastily whipped his arms around to cross over in an x formation. His right hand overtop and palm faced down and his left swinging around vice versa. The chill of artic winds slurring across the battlefield as Gray continued to power himself up. The light of the flames began to glint off the powdered snow that started forming around his aura's edge.

"RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" He screamed in vain. "THIS IS YOUR END."

Never before had she seen a look of such intense hatred upon her friends face...

_'What's happened to you...Gray?'_

Makarov was the first to break the dead lock as he whipped his head towards Erza. "Erza, you must stop him! That technique cannot be used!"

In that same instant Salamander made his move. But, in a startling fast movement for his age, Master Makarov's fist enlarged several times on itself and slammed the blurred image of the beast down into the center of the crater forming a nice body sized niche into the bottom of the crevice. In which he just simply hopped out and changed forwards again.

_'Luckily I can still hold this form.' _With an ease of task not found in her earlier trials and a fair amount of grace, she deftly maneuvered around to the side where Gray was in mere seconds. Her comrade seemed completely oblivious to her approach, his cold angry eyes focused only on the area of the Dark Mage. Salamander was still brawling it out with Master Makarov, hardly getting inside the older man's defensive line each time it charged forwards. His movements starting to get slower each time, becoming more robotic and static, but somehow still maintaining a great deal of strength. A frost like pattern encroaching over his body.

_'Sorry about this Gray! This is going to hurt later!'_

**"ICED SH-"**

With a strong left punch Erza's fist slammed into the Ice-Make mage's cheek. The poor guy was down before he hit the ground. His body slightly twitching as it rested unevenly atop destruction.

She glanced over the vicinity for the other person that came to her mind. Her eyes found the pale body of Erigor in the same spot she remembered. Surrounded by a large, stagnant puddle of his own blood. He lay unmoving, not even the slight murmur of his breathing...not that she even expected it at this point. After all that kind of wound needed immediate care...with the situation there was nothing she could've done about it...

_'Damn it...' _

"Erza!" The voice snapped the redhead back to reality. She looked over to see Lucy sitting in the magic four wheeler as it settled on top of part of a downed stone house. "Come on, grab Gray! We should get out of Master's way!

The redhead eyes lingered on the dead man.

The blonde gasped. "...Oh that's not what I meant...we can come back later and give him a proper burial..."

"Yeah...we will." She replied softly, hoisting her comrades arm over her shoulder. An explosion and flare of heat rocked the landscape behind them. Not bothering to even turn around Erza simply stated. "Master, I believe in you."

* * *

Master Makarov glared down into the flame filled bowl that the demolished land became.

"So you're finally done playing?" The elderly man prodded to the face of madness. "Good, I was getting tired of humoring you."

With a low rumbling growl the avid beast threw a flame covered right forwards, swishing through the air with a fell swoop. Makarov was caught slightly off guard at the volume, pressure, and heat of flame that swarmed him in the wake of yet another massive explosion. The ground underfoot being blown away as he was left suspended in a blistering flame. With a forceful brush of his hand, a compressed white orb of magic power enveloping his pointer finger, the attack was dissipated. A massive trail of destruction scarring the land beyond the older mage as he tapped softly down back to the ground.

Makarov was yet again surprised at the technique used by the demon as it propelled itself forward, the same burst of flame the boy was using himself earlier. _'Is it rooted in instinct...or is it something else? Memories possibly?' _The boy's body flew towards him, rotating in mid air and throwing a vicious kick towards Makarov's right side. The old man feeling the strain on his bone as even his giant's arm lurched up and absorbed the blow. He allowed himself to skid away to garner some distance and to minimize damage.

One again whipping out an orb encrusted finger three golden circular magic seals appeared around him, he formed a v with his hands and with a battle cry he let forth a massive ray of light. The blast completely enveloped the beast as it cackled happily. The ground sheering away in the wake of its downpour, kicking up another bout of dirt and smoke.

Bolts of fire tore through the smoke the first couple narrowly missing the gray haired man before he regained himself and set up barrier seals. The onslaught continued endlessly as they pounded against the shielding Makarov created for himself. More smoke ceaselessly polluting his forward vision. Although the damage being done was fluctuating in tune to the demon's power, he could still just about make out the demon's location.

_'Time for a little gamble.'_

"Oh stars which bind all evil! Send forth your heavenly chains! **Six Star Cross**!" Makarov chanted as he strained concentration to not only get precision but maintain his guard.

Above in the night sky, six massive spears formed and rained down like comets. They impacted harshly and released a blinding radiance. The technique pinning the demon down by forming a hexagonal formation around it, the sides of the hexagon closing up with bars of light. Dozens of light chains shot out and skewered through the teen's body connecting each of the spears to each other.

He saw the beast struggling against the confines of his prison as he relentlessly tried to thrash about, crying out in hoarse growls as if he were in a fit of rage. It was stuck in a hunched over position. Its arms locked above its head while its head was tilted towards the ground. Fire began burning around the demon as it tried to relinquish itself. The flames raging high and wide, but the prison held itself; seemingly un-phased by the expanse of power.

"I will purge the darkness in your heart boy..." The master said as he cupped both of his hands just over his chest, golden light radiating from his finger tips and out into the darkness as the magic assimilated. As he compressed the magic between his hands, he rotated and reversed the positioning of each of his hands, the earth and sky seemed to resonate in harmony. The dark clouds above them splitting and a massive golden orb filled their vacancy. "...And allow your light to guide the world into the next era!"

The demon once again heartily cackled, sucking in a mighty breath.

"As per tradition I shall give you a count of three!" The elderly man continued, "1!"

That's when the flames came flooding out of the young Salamander's mouth, pushing and forcing itself outwards as it tore through the earth. The area around them erupted into an infernal sea as flame swallowed everything and everything whole, and yet another explosion engulfed the entirety of Clover Town.

"2!" Master Makarov continued, gritting his teeth and clenching an eye in pain through the sudden rush of fire. He himself was awed at what he was experiencing first hand. The blast itself was much higher in magnitude then it was from the punch, turning even more of the stone rubble around them into molten slag, whatever wood in the near vicinity had already been burned away to ash. Never before had he seen such a massive expanse of power from a single person that was still yet incomplete. He could feel his flesh tingling as the flame washing over it burned him even through the protection his magic provided. Through the silhouette of flame he could see Salamander break free from his confines, raising his left hand in the process.

Then Makarov felt a stunning power as the power fluctuated to a level that even he hadn't anticipated, it grew and grew and grew. A never ending darkness that seemed to swallow him whole so much unlike the raging flames the wrought so much destruction around him. He could yet again feel such a bottomless and utterly twisted power rise up before him. A white light shining through the crater the used to be Clover Town. A sudden gust of wind blew the flames sideward just enough for Makarov to catch a glimpse of the attack that was to come.

A white orb of pulsing light was hovering at the bent finger tips of Salamander's clawed hand. The power emanating from the orb growing quickly as it absorbed the power that flowed from the veiny white markings that started from the golden levy and stretched across every inch of his body.

"3!" The old man boomed clasping his hands together, "**Fairy Law: Invoked**!"

Makarov watched in terror as the attack fired off at the same time. A white hot beam shot out like a lazer heading directly at him, he enlarged and shoved his hand outwards to intercept the engrossing diameter of the laser. The fiery mass washing over his forearm and blasting him in the face with a wave of pure heat as it completely overpowered the elderly Wizard Saint.

The world seemed to pause in this moment as the powers of good and evil clashed for what seemed to be the final time. The earth rattling of pure, unadulterated destruction versus an unrelenting scourge of all things evil.

As the light of Fairy Law died down it revealed Makarov to be standing but panting harshly. His hat and jacket had been completely incinerated leaving him in a white undershirt. His clothes and body as a whole steamed, most of his wrinkled skin was lightly burned. His face contorted in pain, not even stifling his cry, as his right arm reverted back to normal size. The skin up until the elbow having become charred an equally sinister black as that of the frozen state of Salamander.

The boy stood there in the same position as he did before, his legs spread wide in an open stance and his torso centered, and his left arm still honed in on Makarov. His face lacking the cruel tasteless smile that it'd had for the duration of his release while his eyes were dead.

"It seems that his power was put back under control..." The old man grumbled to himself as he tenderly clutched his damaged appendage. "Although it came at a much higher price than anticipated..."

The boy stood there frozen still for several more seconds until the shadowy aura puffed off his body and evaporated into thin air, leaving no trace that it was even there to begin with besides the ironic chill in the air despite his surroundings being a virtual hell. Salamander's body toppled over instantly, hitting the ground with a conclusive thud. His eyes not even coming to a complete close as he lost consciousness, regarding if he even had it in the first place.

Makarov need not even turn around to survey the massive amounts of destruction that was sure to have been created behind him.

"...So this is the brat, huh?" He said as he walked over to the body of the unconscious pink haired teen . "Seems as though I have my work cut out for me...too bad we couldn't have met under better circumstances. I would've surely loved to have seen you grow up to be a fine young wizard, and learned the proper way unto which you can control your power...but seems as though fate wouldn't have had it that way."

He let the conclusion of silence hang in the air as he activated his magic, enlarging himself, and hefted the body of the boy onto his shoulder with his good arm. He took a quick look at the stars and let out a long woeful sigh. He closed his eyes, and prepared to return to the hall, that saying if it still even remained at this point.

"What a dreadful hand you've been dealt boy...It will surely not be an easy road."

* * *

After hurriedly evacuating from the scarred battleground that was previously Clover Town the lone conscious Fairy Tail mages sat in silence. They'd marked their retreat immediately under the orders of Master Makarov, who now manned the driver's seat of the patched up magic four wheeler.

Erza stared yet again at the chained up man who was perched across the vehicle from the two women, Gray was leaned up against the door on the seat next to him. Lucy had somehow managed to fall asleep, but it didn't seem like she was having an easy time staying that way. Her face looked rather troubled and her lips were beginning to crease into a worrying frown.

_'What the hell are you?!'_ She asked herself in spite. The wholly grotesque and utterly horrific display she'd witnessed was unlike anything she's ever seen before. It only drove her disdain for the man higher. _'If he even is a man! Seems to be a fucking demon!'_

Her Master had seemed adamant about ignoring any questions that the red-head had for the time being, like anything had changed on that front either. The look in his eyes suggested he knew more then just a little about what exactly Salamander was.

As the moonlight filtered through the dirt covered window and through the iron bars crudely placed over the gaping door, a swirl of questions still raced incoherently through her mind. This was all just must too confusing for her, she was just emotionally shot at this point. However, it seemed that fate was more than kind to her and had dropped the answer to one of her life's greatest enigmas right before her very eyes. What she had seen explained all of the evil things that Salamander had done up until this point, and why...

"You...Now I finally understand! I finally know it was you that destroyed Rosmary Village!"

* * *

**Hallo mein fruends! I'm finally back! I feel like this was much overdue, but there was a plenty of a reason for my absence as it had to do a lot with me starting college and stuff and time has just been really hard to manage! Well I hope you enjoyed! Please Read, Review, and Follow if you enjoyed! I hope that everyone is excited for what is to come, because I have some good stuff in store for all of you! Stay golden all of you and I'll catch you next chapter.**


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